The Tiger And The Bear
by mandaree1
Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.
1. Date Night

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre: The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Drabble: Date Night**

**...**

Tonight was the night.

They'd been mating partners for a while. It'd been nice, having someone other than the bears to hold close at night, but he wanted more than that. He was a villain, and villains were greedy, especially when it came to bed partners.

His ear twitched, legs swinging dangerously over the edge of the high building. The top of the building, though it was high enough to set in a good bout of vertigo, was ironically one of the safer places in the dangerous cesspool that was Miracle City. He should know, after all, he was one of its dangers.

"Hey, man." He lumbered next to him, carefully seating himself on the edge. Praying that the ledge was strong enough to hold them, he fiddled with his paws and shivered at the feel of the breeze in his swinging legs. "What'chu doing?"

"Nothing much, just keeping an ear out for trouble." He twitched said ear once again. His lack of reaction proved to the larger man what he'd suspected all along: he'd heard him coming up.

He giggled, flicking the ear with a claw. It twitched back and forth before settling into its original position. He coolly glanced at him. "What's so funny?"

"Nothin'." He glanced back at the city below, taking in the familiar noise of car alarms, yelling, and the odd random explosion. "Slow night?"

"Yup." He popped the end of the word. In his boredom, he began tapping his claws on the concrete.

"Why don't chu go hang out with that friend of yours?" He shrugged.

"Frida's busy, the arcades closed, and I'm not in the mood to sleep." He sighed, leaning back, his hands subconsciously grabbing the railing for support. "The night just won't end." He grunted sourly, closing his eyes in weary irritation.

"So, uh..." He fiddled with his hands, nervously eyeing the ground far below. "You wanna go rob a bank or somethin', then?"

He startled, green eyes quickly snapping to his own. Taking a few seconds to search for a lie or joke, he finally spoke. "You're... You're not kidding?"

He shook his head. "You want me-" He pointed to himself, sharp claws comfortably resting against the fabric of his suit yet not tearing it. "To go _bank robbing_ with you?" He pointed towards his chest, carefully avoiding _actually_ touching him in fear of cutting the skin.

"Yeah, man. I mean, if you wants to. If you don't wants too, that's cool."

"No, no! I won't to go, I'm just... surprised. Bank robbing's always been a one guy gig for you."

"It is! Well, usually it is. I just thought it'd make things more fun. I'd gets away with the moneys, yous wouldn't be bored no more."

"Sounds like a plan." He smiled, pointing his clawed thumb towards the sky in a thumbs up.

* * *

"That was _awesome_!" He cheered, bursting into his cave with a wicked grin, claws outstretched.

"You're tellin' me!" He excitedly walked in after him, hands full with large bags of money. He dropped the bags by the couch. "You know, man, this is the first robbery I've gotten away with in a whiles, man."

"With El Tigre by your side, those cops were trembling in their shoes." He smirked. "The sheriff is going to kill me when he finds out about this, you know."

"You're scared of the chief?" He laughed. "He's a pansy."

"You haven't seen him mad." He shivered, habitually looking over and stretching his claws, looking them over in the dim lighting.

"So, uh, man." He sat down on his bed, patting it with paw. "You wanna stay the night?"

"Here? I wish I could, but... my dad's starting to get suspicious. If he finds out, he's gonna go nuts."

"He's, uh... he don't like this?" He gestured to the two of them, mouth dipping into a frown. He waved his hands.

"No, no, he won't care about you being a guy. It's the whole 'evil villain' thing that'd tick him off."

His frown deepened. "I thought chus _was_ a villain."

"I'm undecided."

"Oh, right. I forget. Anyway, you sure you don't want to stay the night? We don't gots to do anything, we could just... you know, talk."

"Talk?" His brow scrunched. "You're full of surprises tonight." He glanced at the sky outside, taking quick note of the position of the moon. "Eh, why not. I've got a few hours."

Late that night, he smiled at the ceiling, curled up with his bed partner. His first date night with the tiger, and nothing had gone wrong. He only hoped it would continue that way for many nights to come.


	2. Meeting The Grandpapi

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre: The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenager El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Drabble: Meeting The Grandpapi**

**...**

"So..." Grandpapi scratched his chin, carefully circling the man to see him from all angles under careful scrutiny. "You is the one that is dating my grandson..."

"Uh, no offense, man, but I's kinda busy." He held up the stolen bags of money. He paused for a moment. "And you already know me."

"Eh, you've put _miles_ between yourself and the police." He carelessly waved a hand. "They'll never catch you now. Besides, this is important."

"I'd kinda like to keep myself uncaught." He shook off the bad feelings of the uncomfortable staring given to him by the older man. "And we're not dating. We're mating partn-"

"I know, I know." He interrupted with the shake of a head. "But, even still, you're one of his first physical partners. That's even more important than dating."

"First?" His mind drew a blank. "He never said anythings about that back when we started having-... wait a second!" He bent down, snarling, nose-to-nose with the older man. "Who told chu about that!?"

"You haven't exactly been keeping it quiet." He reminded him coolly, blandly eyeing him with a look that spoke of an easy win. "I overheard chu bragging about in the bar last week."

"Oh." The snarl faded away as he stood up. "Never minds then."

"Muscular, but not very bright." He commented, looking him over once again.

"Uh, thanks?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I like that you're a bad influence. You might just be the push Manny needs to be become_ evil_." He chuckled evilly, rubbing his hands together.

"But I thoughts he was gonna stay undecided." He scratched the side of his head. The topic had been the subject of multiple conversations, and he was rather sure he understood the teens thoughts about it perfectly. He didn't want to decide, so he wasn't going too. It was easy enough to understand, even to someone like himself.

The older had waved the thought away. "No, no, he _will_ choose a side. He has too. It is... a family thing."

"I don't get it..."

"Chu don't have too." He paused for a moment to decide his final impression of the man before sighing. "Alright, chu pass my test. You certainly aren't the smartest, but chu mean well enough. For a villain, that is. _But_-" Using his hat's propeller, he flew upwards until he was at eye level with the larger man. "If you _dare_ hurt_ my_ grandson, no one will _ever_ find the body."

"What body?" He sighed once again, bringing a hand up to his forehead.

"Chu're giving me a headache." He groaned. "Yeesh, you _are_ as dumb as a box of rocks. _Fine_, I'll just have to rephrase it for chu. If _anything_\- and I mean _anything_\- you do hurts Manny, I _will_ kill chu, and _no one_ will find _your_ body. Got it?" The man backed up a bit, a cold shiver running down his spine as he watched the dark shadow inside the small old man flashed beneath his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I gots it."

"Good." His voice lightened a tad. "I'm glad we could have this talk. Now, if you'll excuse me, I promised Manny we'd rob the jewelry store together."

"Ooh, can I come?" He asked excitedly, the bags at his feet long forgotten. Grandpapi raised an eyebrow as he shook his head.

"It's more of a grandfather-grandson type of thing. No boyfriends allowed. Besides, you_ already_ robbed a bank tonight."

"Oh, yeah." He paused, picking up the dropped bags. "I forgot."

Shaking his head, he exited the area for the nearby window and hovered high above the city, grumbling under his breath. "Why my grandson would date that moron, I will never know."

**No flames! Don't like, don't read! Review!**


	3. Acceptance (part 1)

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Drabble: Acceptance (part 1 or 2)**

**...**

**Guest (June 8)\- No, no lemon's from me. =) It's rated T, and I'm not gonna raise it any higher. **

**Guest (May 30)\- Manny won't be very happy, no. =) It should be... interesting.**

**Guest (April 24)\- Thank you. =) It's definitely crack, I know.**

**JustSomeoneElse\- Thank you for the compliment!**

**deppyandnikky\- They had a sleepover, basically. =)**

**Storyteller54\- Well, thank you for at least giving it a shot!**

**Guest (April 19)\- Yup, definitely a crack pairing. =)**

**...**

"Dad, you'd love me no matter what, right?"

Glancing up from the washing machine, Rodolfo took in his son's nervous twitching with an unimpressed frown. "What did you do?"

"Nothing! Not yet, that you know, that's important." He paused before breaking out in a tight grin. "It's just... you would love me, no matter what, right?"

He scratched his chin. "It depends... what's on your mind?"

"Nothing, I swear." He waved his arms.

"Have you and Frida finally started dating?" He perked up, the ears on his mask perking up in interest. Manny raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, no offense dad, but, ew." He mock-shuddered, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"What? You've been spending a lot of time with her lately, more so than usual."

The teen rolled his eyes. "Her band's got a record deal _and_ a city-wide tour going on, dad. As her co-manager, I kinda gotta help them out, so I've been really busy."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't wonder..." He trailed off, leaning against the washing machine. "Alright, so if it isn't Frida that's on your mind, then what's going on?"

"Like I said; _nothing important_." He reaffirmed, directing his gaze to the floor. "Anyway, back to the question at hand. Would you?"

"Of course." Rodolfo smiled, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Miho... you're my son. I will accept you no matter what."

"Cool." He grinned, his confidence swelling. The smile fell into a frown.

"However, if you did something, say, turn to the side of evil, my heart would be torn to shreds in disappointment and shame. I would still love you, but I wouldn't like you very much." The grin fell.

"Oh." His confidence disappeared in an instant.

"So.." He perked up once again. "Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"No, nothing." He brushed the arm away. "I'm, uh, gonna go check up on the band. Big concert tonight, you know. I heard there's gonna be a talent scout in the crowd. Who knows? Maybe we'll get another record deal. Anyway, see you." He waved before awkwardly scampering out the room.

"Hmm..." He scratched his chin as Grandpapi strolled into the room. "Papi, have you noticed something... _off_, about Manny?"

"Off?" Grandpapi shrugged, digging through the dryer. "No, not really, why? He's a busy boy. School, helping out with Frida's career, superheroing, the like."

"I suppose..." He opened the washer, distractedly shoving the wet clothing into the dryer. "Perhaps... You know, Manny and I haven't had a father-son day lately..."

"Oh no..." The elderly man grunted, recognizing the excited tone taking over his son's face. He silently watched as the man took off out the door calling his grandsons name. He sighed and turned back to his laundry. "Poor Manny. Ah, here are my socks!" He pulled out the articles of clothing with a grin, leaving the rest of the laundry alone in favor of plotting his next heist.

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	4. Acceptance (part 2)

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Drabble: Acceptance (Part 2 of 2)**

**...**

**Storyteller54\- Thank you for giving it another shot!**

**...**

"Ulgh." Manny sighed, slumping against the railing. He tiredly scanning the rooftops of the buildings of the city below. "I'm tired."

Despite his exhaustion, he honestly hadn't done anything productive the past few days. Rodolfo had decided that the week was to be a father-son bonding week, and had promptly begun dragging him around the city in an attempt to bond. And while Manny respected his intentions, his fathers attempts at making conversation were less than stellar...

_"Miho, how are your grades?"_

_"Are you getting along with your peers?"_

_"Have you and Frida started dating yet?"_

_"Have you finally decided to walk the path of good and only good?"_

"Gag me." He grunted, shaking the thoughts away. He wasn't a wallflower by any means, but when talking to his father he always felt the urge to gouge his own tongue out. Or his fathers. Whichever worked. (Although, if he were honest with himself, he doubted he'd be able to lay a claw on his father without losing horribly. But, hey, it was his fantasy, let him think it.)

Worse yet, he was behind in his work. Schoolwork, band work, hero/villain work, and then there was hanging out with El Oso... he groaned and dropped his head a bit before lifting it back up. It was gonna be a long night...

"Tired?" His eyes flickered to the shorter form of his grandfather as he made his way next to him. Smiling, Grandpapi glanced over to him.

"Yeah." He stretched. "_And_ I'm behind on... well, pretty much everything."

The older man chuckled. "I'm sure most of it can wait until morning."

He shrugged and shook his head in disbelief. "Nah, I doubt it. Homework, band stuff, other things..." He paused before dropping his head with a sigh. "I'm not gonna get much sleep tonight."

"When was the last time you did your homework? One more late assignment can't make your grades tank any further than they already have. Frida's a big girl now, she can handle herself." He chuckled.

"Yeah, I know..." He grumbled tartly. "It's just... I'm so used to being busy that it feels weird to _not_ be busy."

"Hmm, I think you need to relax."

"I know I do." He answered immediately. "I haven't really had a chance to relax lately, is all."

"Missing your boy toy, eh?" The teen jumped at the statement, whipping his head around. Grandpapi smirked, letting out a small chuckle at the look on his grandson's face.

The shock wore away after a moment, and he felt the last of it melt away as he re-slumped. "How long have you known?"

"Awhile." He chuckled, interestedly watching a minor explosion in the distance. He groaned.

"How did you find out?"

"I have my sources." The boy raised an eyebrow. He shrugged. "I overheard him brag about it awhile ago."

"He what!?" Growling, he felt the familiar itch to claw something bubbling up. "When I get ahold of him..." He swore. "He's gonna _wish_ he was in jail."

Grandpapi laughed a moment before waving a hand. "Go on, go see him. I'll cover for you."

"Really?" He perked up. "Thanks."

"Buuut, before you go... I have a question to ask chu." The teen flipped around, leaning his back against the railing. He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, shoot."

"Why Oso? No offense, Manny, but he isn't exactly boyfriend material." The teen shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Honestly, Grandpapi, I don't know why either. He isn't attractive, and he certainly isn't smart." He glanced at his shoes. "I don't get it either."

"I see..." He scratched his chin in thought.

"I just... I really like him. He's nice, in his own annoying way, and he hasn't hit me once since we've started hanging out. Even when I'm trying to get him arrested. He just runs." He bowed his head in thought before bursting up and smacking a hand against his forehead with a groan. "Oh god, I think I'm falling for him. I'm falling for _El Oso_ of all people."

"I would have to agree with you." The older man nodded.

"I'm such a moron." He groaned before wagging his free hand. "If I start acting like dad in _any way_ about all of this, kill me. I don't care how or when, just do it."

"I can't promise anything." He answered, turning to look back at the slowly setting sun. "You're sound like me back when I was with Sartana. Having no answers, but still in love." He paused before continuing. "You'll have to tell your father about all of this, especially if it grows into something more. Do we have an agreement?"

"Yeah, yeah, I planned on telling him eventually." He flushed, his checks and ears turning a light red. "Well, uh, this talk was... informative, Grandpapi, but it's getting late, and I better be going..."

"Go on, then. I'll cover for chu." He waved a hand. The boy was gone in an instant. He idly watched him make his way down the street. "Ahhh, young love. Its got to be one of the weirdest kinds of love out there. Poor Manny."

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review! Just a warning, I don't usually update this fast.**


	5. An Intervention

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures of Manny Rivera.**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Drabble: An Intervention.**

**Authors Note: Well, no new reviews, so I have nothing to answer! =)**

**...**

The villains bar didn't sport any alcohol, due to the rising amount of underage super villains roaming the streets of Miracle City. It did, however, have the look, feel, and air of a normal bar, the only true difference being that you got a mug of soda instead of a mug of beer. Which was why El Oso was sitting at the main counter nursing a root beer instead of an actual beer.

"El Oso." Dr. Chipotle Senior stiffly nodded in greeting, gesturing to the seat next to the burly man. "May I sit here? Dr Chipotle _Senior_ has something very important he needs to speak to you about."

"Go ahead, it's open." He shrugged, not bothering to glance over. "You're paying for your own drink, though."

"Of course." He slipped into his seat, pointing a metal finger towards the ceiling to gain the attention of the bartender. "Another root beer, please."

"Of course, sir." He set the full glass down next to the half-full one of his companion.

"So, whattya need, man?" He watched the man push the glass away from him.

"There have been... rumors, circulating around Miracle City. About you and El Tigre."

"There is? I didn't know that." He gulped down the rest of his drink, setting it down with a clang.

Dr. Chipotle Senior raised an eyebrow. "So? Are they true?"

"Huh? I don't know, probably." He shrugged his shoulders. "Why?"

"El Oso! I expected better from you!" His robotic arm slammed against the counter. "He's a hero!"

"He's undecided." He countered.

"For now! He'll choose sides soon enough, and then what? It's not worth the trouble, El Oso."

"It's not like things'll be different if he does, man. He'll throw me in jail, I'll break out, rinse and repeat. It's been that way for _years_, man, it ain't about to change now."

"And what about his family? White Pantera would never allow something like this."

"Tigre's almost an adult." He shrugged. "Won't be long now and he won't be able to tell him hows to live anyway."

"Yes, I suppose so..." The Doctor took a sip of his root beer, watching the man out of the corner of his eye. "Oso... El Tigre is dangerous. We all know that."

He didn't answer for a moment, instead waving down another root beer. All was quiet as the glass was set in front of him, and he downed half of it in one go. Finally, after a few minutes of contemplative silence, he smiled widely, falsely, and answered. "Of course he is, man. He's a hero. All heroes are dangerous."

"He has a temper, El Oso. A nasty temper."

"He has it under control. Pantera sent him off until he did, remember?"

"For now." He spoke the words hanging in the air. "Who knows how long until he snaps? You remember how he used to rampage around the city, don't you? How he attacked his family. He has no mercy, no fear."

"Look, man, El Tigre's got it handled. He's the most relaxed guy I know."

"Honestly, with the way you're defending him, it's almost like you're falling for him." The smaller man sniffed.

He grabbed the mans shirt collar, yanking him up to eye level as he reared back a fist. "Falling for him? No clue. But I do respect 'em. He's tough. And you needs to stop downing him, _now_."

"I... I'm merely looking out for you, Oso. You have to think this through." He choked as the grip tightened. "Being with El Tigre is one of the worst things you could do to yourself."

His fist slammed home, and the robotic man slammed into the nearby wall, leaving a well-shaped indent as he fell to the floor. Huffing irritably, El Oso slipped back into his chair, waving down the server for another root beer. "Put it all on his tab." He thrust a claw towards the fallen man.

"Er, yes, sir." He set the glass down. "Uh, sir, the wall..."

"I'll fix it later." He shrugged, staring down into the dark liquid.

"Yes, sir." The man turned and, with one last glance, set off to the storeroom for plaster and bricks.

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review please! I didn't get any from the last chapter. =)**


	6. Languages

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Drabble: Languages**

**Authors Note: Nothing really about El Oso in here, but he'll be back in a chapter or two. =)**

**...**

**Guest (August 7)\- I'm glad the story has interested you! I hope I write them in a good way. =) And I guess they could be continuing drabbles, or bits and pieces of mini-chapters, or something like that.**

**...**

She twirled on her feet, spinning in rapid circles before tapering off into a dizzy stumble. Giggling wildly, she managed to pull off a few more crudely done dance-steps before finally stumbling a few more steps back. Detecting a familiar presence behind her, she pushed her weight onto her heels and let herself fall backwards.

Strong arms caught her, and she smiled up at the scarred face hovering above her. Manny raised an eyebrow, not the least bit surprised. "Hey."

"Hey." He easily pushed her to her feet. "Frida, why are you dancing in the middle of the street at..." he checked his watch. "Four in the morning?"

She shrugged. "I needed to keep my blood pumping." She slumped over, arms dangling. "Dude, I didn't even know there _was_ a four a.m. My body's still learning how to cope."

"Okay, let me rephrase that; why am _I_ here at four in the morning?"

"I needed a dance partner. Duh." Frida smiled wide. He tilted his head closer to his chin, raising an unimpressed eyebrow. She sighed, the smile fading back into an exhausted half-smile. "Okay, I needed someone here to help keep me awake. It was a toss-up between you and the band... and then I remembered that Teeny threatened to shave my head if I ever called her before dawn and I _wasn't_ bleeding, so... you won!"

"Lucky me." He muttered, shifting on his feet and shoving his hands into his pockets as he turned to watch the crew build the stage. He heard a jackhammer going off somewhere in the background, but he knew it was in his best interest not to ask. "Ready for the concert tonight?"

"_Soo_ ready." She pumped a fist. "And, considering I have the best bodyguard in the city to watch over the show, things should go off without a hitch!"

He rolled his eyes. "Thank El Oso. He's diverting most of the crime in the city. Something about a new, really expensive museum opening tonight?" He paused in thought, trying to remember any news he may have read on the subject before shrugging. "They'll be busy all night." He watched the builders lug in a few piles of wood. He pointed. "What all are they doing for the stage anyway?"

"I have _no_ idea." She held her hands together and kicked a foot into the air, and he knew that she was attempting to use her 'feminine whiles' (The first time she'd called them that, he'd fallen over laughing. Frida, with all her awesomeness and adventure-loving, had never truly registered as feminine in his mind. And, despite her beauty (and, yes, he would admit she was very pretty), he doubted he ever would) to get something from him. "_Please_..."

He sighed and slumped over, eyes closing in mild irritation before he glanced up to meet her eyes. "They don't speak English." It wasn't a question.

"Not a word." She whistled, rocking on her heels.

"Ah, so the truth finally revels itself..." He straightened himself and eyed the small group of men. "You called me here at four in the morning to play _translator_?"

"What? Pffbt, _no_, I'd _never_ do that. Now you're just being silly." She waved a hand, eyes darting around the nearby building.

He didn't answer, silently watching her attempt at lying. She sighed, the hand dropping back to her side. "I _do_ want to hang out. I wasn't kidding about that. And I thought, well, since you're such a good friend and all..."

"Frida?" He closed his eyes, massaging the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

"Yeah?"

"You need to learn to speak Spanish."

"I _know_ how to speak Spanish." She defended, indignant. He shook his head.

"Being able to order off of the cafeteria lunch menu _isn't_ the same thing as being a fluent speaker."

"Hey! It's not _just_ the school menu. I'm pretty good with restaurant menus too." Her lips curled upwards in a self-satisfied smirk.

"Let me rephrase that; knowing a couple of _phrases_ doesn't mean you're fluent. Frida... Three-fourths of Miracle City doesn't speak English."

She crossed her arms, unimpressed. "You know I don't trust statistics."

"Frida, you've lived here since you were three. It's about time you learned the language."

"Do I have to?" She whined.

"You want to live your life here, right?"

"Well, I was kinda hoping to sell a couple of record deals and travel the world first, but yeah." She shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? Miracle City's one of the coolest city's out there. Even if the weather can suck."

"It's gonna be hard to live here if a good seventy-five percent of the people won't be able to understand you. What if you're hurt in some alleyway, and some good samaritan tried to help you?"

"Dude, this Miracle City. What good samartains?" She crossed her arms, eyelids lowering in disinterest.

"The _point_ is, you could really use the knowledge. And, no offense, it wasn't your dads smartest idea to not teach you Spanish."

"Your argument... hasn't swayed me in the slightest." She admitted with a shrug, dropping her arms.

He sighed. "I didn't expect it to. But it's a good argument, one i'll be reminded you of the entire time i'm teaching." He tugged her arm, pulling her down the street with him. "Come'on, a couple cafes'll be open by now."

"What about the concert?" She tugged fruitlessly. She was more than capable of breaking his grip, but she didn't bother.

"It's four-." He glanced at his watch and shook his head. "No, scratch that, _Five_ in the morning. We have _plenty_ of time before your night concert. I'll buy you some churros."

"Ugh." She slumped, dejectedly following behind him, the struggle forgotten. "You're going all teacher-y on me. I didn't know you had it in you."

She didn't have to see his face to know he was smirking. "What can I say, Frida? Something about you triggers my 'teacher-y' side.'"

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	7. Instincts

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera.**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Drabble: Instincts**

**Authors Note; The return of El Oso! =) **

**...**

**bedstores(guest)- Yeah, Frida's going to be in the story every once in awhile. =) While not a main character like Manny or El Oso, she still tends to pop up sometimes. =)**

**She knows about them, yes. Frida was the first person to know of Manny's interest in Oso, and she was also the first person to ask him if something was wrong with his head. =) She doesn't understand the appeal (no one does, not even the writer.), but she's supportive of them anyway. **

**...**

El Oso's instincts had never been the best.

He always followed them, no matter what the case. If they told him to go plow through the jail house (while he was on parole, no less), he'd go running through it like a madman. If they told him that ice cream was more important then the bags of money in his claws, the officers of Miracle City had found and arrested him while he was drinking (This is Miracle City, the hottest city around for a good hundred miles each way. You_ drink_ ice cream, you don't eat it) a cone of rocky road. When they'd told him to chase after Miracle City's strongest super-powered hero/villain, he'd started chasing after him in his free time.

That had actually been one of the best decisions his instincts had ever made, but you got the point.

Even so, he never questioned his instincts. Bears lived mostly on instinct, and he was a bear (technically), so he did as well, no matter how stupid or life-threatening they may be.

So, when his instincts had demanded he go to the one place in Miracle City he knew housed someone who would let him use their first aid kit, he followed through without question, even though his home was technically a lot closer and safer.

And here he was, blankly staring up at the tall building that housed the Rivera family.

No one messed with the Rivera household. It was a pride thing, and instinct, the ingrained knowledge that attacking the Rivera's on their own territory usually ended up badly; with the attacker in the hospital with two broken legs and a concussion.

But he wasn't here to attack the Rivera family. He was here to borrow a first aid kit.

With a shrug, El Oso began climbing.

Slipping heavily over the side-railing to the top floor of one of the tallest buildings in Miracle City, he collapsed onto his back and panted until he finally caught his breath, feeling vaguely familiar to the giant gorilla in that one monster movie.

Stumbling to his feet, El Oso slipped along the side of the house until he found the nearest safe window to climb through. The inside smelled of spices and bread, and he came to the conclusion that he was staring into the kitchen window.

Slipping through the window head first, he grunted in effort, squishing himself in as far as he could go.

The window pane gave way with a sick crack as it broke under his weight, the semi-sharp edge digging into his stomach. "Ow!" He whined, stopping all movement to avoid further injury.

Whelp. He was stuck.

He sighed, slumping. The one arm that had managed to make its way inside brushed against the tile floor.

Only two options left. Either Tigre woke up and found him, or...

He groaned.

* * *

Tigers are territorial.

At least, he _thinks_ they are. Nature books had never been very high on his reading list, even if his librarian mother had tried her best to get him interested ("Think of all the _amazing_ things you can learn from nature, Miho!"). He'd just never held any real interest. Miracle City didn't house many different species of wild animals, and he never really planned on leaving the city. He was going to tag along with Frida when she finally got her world tour (or two), but he wasn't going to look at the wildlife. He was going to lose his hearing from the metallic scream of guitars and to live the nightlife of other, less criminally populated, cities.

The Great Tiger Spirit was territorial. Miracle City was its territory. The normal citizens (the few insane people who'd yet to run away from the city screaming in terror) it let go without thought, but the villains...

Well, let's just say that the spirit hibernating in his body had played a good part in his rampages around the city those few years ago. He'd managed to wrangle the spirit somewhat after much trial and error, but...

He drew the metaphorical line on the house. It was bad enough he wasn't letting him take care of the _other_ intruders, he could imagine it thinking, stamping a frustrated paw against the forest ground the spirit had created for itself in a small but influential part of his mind, no one intrudes on _our_ den.

He had to admit, the Rivera household used to get broken into a lot more than it did now. Sending a couple of people to the hospital had more than done the trick to ward people off.

So when he was startled awake in the early hours of the morning by the roar of a _very_ unhappy tiger demanding they go stop the newest intruder dead in their tracks, he spinned the old belt buckle with a sigh and let the Great Spirit take partial control. The tiger hadn't killed anyone anyone yet, and part of the deal had been that they _keep it that way_, so he felt no fear at the idea that he wasn't in full control.

The intruder had gotten himself stuck in a window, grunting and groaning with effort as he tried to lift himself up and into the room. He crouched down, tail swishing behind him, claws sliding out with a metallic clang that echoed around the room.

The trespasser froze. Taking the moment of hesitation for granted, he charged foreword, one hand reaching down to grab a necklace hanging around his neck while the other prepared to strike, claws gleaming slightly in the darkness.

They were mere inches away from each other. If he leaned in, they'd be brushing noses. Still, he couldn't fully concentrate on what was in front of him, and he couldn't figure out why the trespasser looked so familiar...

"-It's just me! Lemme go, man!"

He blinked, and suddenly everything was in focus. His mouth twitched downwards from the feral snarl that had been there mere moments before, brow furrowing. The Great Spirit huffed and disappeared back into the recesses of his mind. He didn't let go, however, nor did he drop his raised arm. "El Oso?"

"That's me!" He nodded enthusiastically. "Uh, mind letting go of me, man?"

"Huh?" Taking notice of his rather aggressive posture, he immediately let go and dropped his arm. "Sorry."

"No problems. I's got stuck."

"I noticed." He muttered dryly, looking the trapped man over. He pointedly stared at the part of the window pane incessantly poking the mans gut. "That looks like it hurts."

"It does. A lot." He feebly reached to grasp the wood, finding it to be out of his reach. "Uh... a little help?"

"Huh?" He shook his head in an attempt to clear it, blinking for a few seconds until the words sunk in. "Oh. Right. I'm on it."

He pulled the broken pane free with a loud snap. El Oso slumped against the bottom half of the window, sighing in relief. Anchoring a foot against the wall to the right of the trapped man's arm, his claws slipped back into his gloves. Grabbing his wrist, Manny pulled as hard as he could, slowly sliding him inside. "Why're you here, anyhow?"

"Just got outta jail." He wheezed. "I got a coupla scratches, and you're the only guy I know that owns a first aid kit."

"What about Dr. Chipotle Senior? Or Sartana? Wait, Sartana's dead, she doesn't need a... never mind." He shook his head. "Still, you _have_ to have a couple of villain friends with first aid stuff."

The window released him with a crunch, the force knocking him completely over and onto his back. Manny scrambled out of the way, whistling lowly as he looked over the window. "Wow. We did a real number on this thing."

El Oso flipped over onto his hands and knees, wildly searching the room for the expected burst of the two older super-powered occupants roaring down the hallway, half-awake in a panic, determined to kick the crud out of whoever had broken in and awoken them.

Nothing.

Manny snorted. "Relax, Oso. They won't wake up for anything less than the next apocalypse." He waved a hand, trailing out of the kitchen and down the hall connecting it to the living room.

He followed, raising an eyebrow. "Next apocalypse?" Glancing back, he winced at the now circular hole in the wall. "Sorry 'bout the window."

"Well... let's just say Sartana is good at her job." He shrugged. "The window's fine. I'll just tell them someone broke in, and I fought them off."

Manny's bed snapped and bent under the large man's weight, and it took all his willpower not to wince as he pulled out the cotton balls and rubbing alcohol.

"I, uh, I'll take the floor." He grunted as he finished tying off the man's bandages.

El Oso frowned. "Nah, that's okay. It's yer bed, man."

His ear twitched at the sound of another wood beam cracking. He frantically waved his hands in front of his face. "No, no, it's cool, I promise. _You're_ the injured one, it's only right."

Never one to go against comfort, he shrugged. "Alright, if you say so." He laid down onto his side before rolling over, back facing him. The bed warped even further.

Spinning the belt buckle one last time that night, Manny curled up on the floor, facing the wall opposite to him with a frown.

El Oso left at dawn, to better assure that neither of the older men were made aware of his presence, and Manny found himself punching the familiar phone number into the house phone at 3:58 A.M.

The phone rang twice before picking up. He smiled wide. "Hey, Frida! Uh, I know this is a stupid question, but you wouldn't happen to, you know..." He chuckled nervously. "Want to come over?"

Her voice was fuzzy on the other end of the line. "What's the catch?"

He could practically _see_ her leaning against her kitchen wall, arms crossed, eyelids lowered accusingly, black wall phone cradled in the knook of her shoulder, arms crossed.

"Heh heh, _Welllll_..." He slumped with a sigh. "My bed's shot. And the kitchen window. El Oso dropped by for some first aid, and..."

Her response came in under three seconds. "I'll be there in ten."

**Authors Note: Poor Manny's bed. I'm thinking of writing Frida and Manny trying to fix the bed next chapter, but I can't think of anything all that long, so I might not. Who knows?**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	8. Camping (Part 1 Of 2)

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Drabble: Camping (1 of 2)**

**...**

**Narrador de Leyendas\- Thank you for the kind review! =)**

**...**

"This is awesome!" El Oso burst through the thick foliage with a grin. "It's been forevers since I last camped, man."

Manny sourly trailed behind him, weighed down by his heavy camping bags. "I noticed."

"You say something?"

He shook his head. "Nah, nothing."

Coming to a halt, Oso turned and looked him over. "What's with all the luggage, man? We's camping, not going on vacation."

"Mom went on and on about being prepared." He shrugged, wincing under the heavy weight. "She even packed my bag so I didn't forget anything I didn't need."

"Your Mom worries too much." El Oso commented as they started back down the path. Manny barely managed to keep pace beside him.

"Yeah, but that's cool. It's kinda nice to have people who worry about you."

Brushing some bushes aside, Oso's face lit up as he looked over the large clearing in front of him. "Perfect!"

"It's a place to sleep." Manny grunted, shrugging his bag to the side and slumping against a tree, pausing only to sniff the air. "There's a river nearby. That's a good thing, right?"

"There is?" Oso sniffed the air, perking up almost immediately. "There is! How'd you know?"

"I gotta good nose, I guess." Manny shrugged. The Great Tiger Spirit snorted.

_'**You've** got a good nose?'_

_'Shut up. He doesn't know about you, and you know it.'_

El Oso didn't press any further. "We can go fishings tomorrow!"

"Sounds like a plan." Pushing off the tree, he headed towards the smell of water. "I'm gonna go wash my face. Do you mind putting up the tents?"

"I got it!" He thumbs-upped. Manny disappeared into the trees. Lumbering over to the bags, he pulled out the two tents and stared at them, a contemplative look on his face.

"How do you put these things up again?"

* * *

Bending down to splash cold water into his face, Manny snorted as he watched the large green form of the Great Tiger Spirit bend its head down to drink. "Cute gesture, but you can't drink water."

_'I can taste it, for a second...'_ It trailed off, glancing up from the water to stare into the nearby trees. _'Smells weird here.'_

"There's less volcanic ash around here. And smoke."

_'Hmm...'_ It looked up and over its shoulder towards the pathway that would lead them back to the campsite. _'He's a bear.'_

"Basically, yes."

_'Bears and Tigers... don't get along well in the wild.'_

He frowned. "This isn't the wild. It's a silly little camping trip. I could walk home from here and be perfectly fine."

_'Our territory...'_

"Dad and Grandpapi have it covered. If things get to bad, they can always call in Frida. Any villain with any kind of survival instincts knows better than to go against Frida."

The Spirit didn't answer.

"It'll be fine. Miracle City got along just fine before I came along after the El Tigre before me, it can get along without us for a couple more days." Slumping against a rock, Manny slid down and crossed his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. "I'm gonna relax for a minute. You gonna stand there or are you going to join me?"

The large beast looked him over a moment before padding over and curling up beside him.

* * *

'A minute to relax' somehow turned into a nap beside the stream, and was only awoken by the shaking of his shoulder.

Cracking his eyes open, he watched with blurry eyes as El Oso stared down at him. "Oso? What time is it?" He yawned and struggled to his feet.

Oso shrugged his large shoulders. "No clue." He shifted on his feet, arms behind his back.

Manny raised an eyebrow. "El Oso?"

Bringing his arms around, he held out the tattered remains of their tent. "It was an accident, man, I swear."

A flower of irritation bloomed within him, only to wilt under practice and control. Manny sighed, releasing the harmful emotions in the puff of hot air. "Well, looks like we'll be sleeping under the stars for real now, huh?"

Oso smiled and tossed the ruined fabric aside. "Yeah, man. Sounds great."

* * *

Ironically enough, considering his partner, Manny wasn't particularly fond of excess body hair. But bears were hairy creatures, and El Oso's hair was part of his schtick, so he never bothered to mention it.

But, he had to admit, having lots of hair had its uses, like being an extra warm cushion to lay on. And a blanket, judging by the warmth radiating from the arm wrapped loosely around his waist.

"I didn't know you liked watching the stars, Oso." He commented. The bear had been rambling on and on about the different stars and pointing to them with a free claw. While not one for astronomy, Manny didn't mind listening and curling up on the larger mans chest. Hey, Oso was the one who'd plopped him there. He was just taking what had been offered.

"Love 'em." Oso dropped his large hand onto the ground. "They're like little tiny lights."

"I noticed." He shifted a bit before sighing and resting his head under the skull necklace that hung from the others neck. "There's so many of them here... It's too bad you can't see them in Miracle City."

"Yeah. It's one of the things I miss most about living out here, man."

He tilted his head up and raised an eyebrow. "It is?"

"Yeah, man. There's nothing quite as nice as curling up to fall asleep with the stars overhead. Except in winter. Then it sucks."

Manny chuckled. "Wow, Oso. That was almost... poetic."

"I know. Don't tell anybody I can be kinda-sorta poetic, alright?" He punched his shoulder. "It's supposed to be a secret."

"You have my word." He promised with a chuckle, closing his eyes.

Maybe, just maybe, camping wasn't so bad after all.

**Author's Note: And here Manny goes, jinxing himself once again. =)**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	9. Camping (Part 2 Of 2)

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Drabble: Camping (Part 2 of 2)**

**...**

There was nothing quite like waking up to the sound of bears roaring.

Manny bolted awake and strained to see into the rustling bushes. Flashes of fur and skin caught his eye.

He silently twirled his belt and prepared for the worst, steadying his outstretched arm to launch should anything unwelcome step into his line of sight.

Should it be anything dangerous, he was more than ready.

His efforts were in vain, however, as he watched Oso tumble into the clearing, a familiar-looking bear clutched in his grip. He caught a whiff of honey, which only strengthened as another bear padded into the clearing, beehive firmly attached to his ear as well.

Manny sighed in relief and turned the belt once more. "Oh, it's just you guys. Catching up with some old friends, Oso?"

"Yeah, man!" He rolled by. "They's were by the river, getting a drink and I came out to get a drink, and we saws each other!"

"And what're the chances of that?" He muttered sarcastically. "Imagine- three bears meeting up with each other in the heart of bear territory by one of the largest and most fish-populated rivers around. I'm amazed."

El Oso didn't hear him, caught up in roughhousing, but The Bear Prince bristled and growled at him. Manny lifted his hands in surrender, eyes darting from the two playing bears to the one ready to attack

"I think I'll just... go." He pointed a finger to the bushes and carefully backtracked out of the clearing, calling over his shoulder. "I'm going fishing!"

* * *

"I wonder what his problem was?" Manny grunted as he sat down, eyeing the mostly clear river. "Well, at least they didn't scare breakfast away." He stood and nervously kicked a stone. "Now, fishing..."

_'Problem?'_

"Not really, just deciding my plan of action."

There was a splash as a large green paw scooped a fish out of the water and tossed it onto the blank, holding the flailing fish underneath a well-placed paw. The spirit's eye narrowed in silent challenge.

Manny crossed his arms, a competitive glint in his eye as he thoughtfully scanned the fish with a grin. "Nice catch."

Green eyes narrowed further.

"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were challenging me."

The tiger grunted and jerked its head towards the river.

Manny chuckled. "Alright then. First person/tiger to catch the most fish wins?"

_'You're on.'_

* * *

"I give up, I give up!" Manny chuckled as he flopped onto the river bank, panting. "I can't go on. You win, my friend. Try not to get_ too_ big a head on me, alright?"

The Great Tiger Spirit tossed a fish at him with a well-aimed kick. Manny easily caught it, looking over the claw marks marring its side. "How am I gonna explain the claw marks to Oso?"

The large creature twitched its tail in the vague area of his mid-section. Manny shrugged.

"Fishing as El Tigre? Seems kinda far-fetched, doesn't it?"

_'It's a good thing bears aren't the smartest of creatures, then, isn't it?'_

Manny didn't answer, gathering the fish into his arms. "Well, he's not one to ask a lot of questions, at least. He probably won't even notice, with how excited he is."

_'Jealous?'_

"Of a group of furballs with honey-glued beehives on their ears? Please. I thought you knew me better than that."

_'Just making sure. One can never prod too much.'_

"I beg to differ, my friend. Come'on, if we don't get back soon they might start to miss us."

* * *

By dinnertime, Manny was more than sick of fish. He longed for a home-cooked dinner with actual flavor and perhaps even a little spice, but instead focused on staying out of the Bear Prince's way rather than complain.

But, as if sensing his intent of staying away, the bear began following him around, snarling whenever he got to close to the Princess. Why, when Oso had earlier swept him up into a playful embrace and declared "See? I got's one too!", he wasn't entirely sure.

Manny was half-tempted to ask Oso to translate for him, but the villain had practically _squealed_ when he'd noticed the other male following him around.

"He likes you, man!"

Manny begged to differ, but he was more than capable of taking care of himself and let things be, patiently waiting for his chance.

* * *

"Uh, shouldn't we hang up what's left of dinner?"

Oso cocked his head to the side. "Why?"

"Y'know, in case of..." He trailed off, eyeing the three mammals staring at him before awkwardly shaking his head. "Never mind. It was a stupid idea anyway."

* * *

Even the calmest of tempers can burn brightly, and Manny had a very dangerous (but very slow-to-start) fuse to start with.

So, when Oso and the Princess had conked out for the night and he'd reached for the last fish, only to be growled at, he calmly set the fish down, turned to the look the bear in the face, and snarled.

The Prince was at loss for words.

"What's your problem, man?" He whispered harshly, wary of the sleeping bears. "I'm not doing anything!"

The Prince stared at him for a long time (Manny was beginning to wonder if he'd understood), then shifted his paws and slid his gaze behind him.

Manny caught bright green out of the corner of his eye and turned back to look at him. "You see him?"

The Prince nodded.

"Oh. Weird. I thought it was just an El Tigre thing, but since you can see him..." He paused and glanced at the sleeping duo. "Can the Princess see him too?"

The Prince snarled and stepped between him and his mate. Manny raised his hands in surrender.

"Woah, woah, man, relax. I was just asking." Manny sighed. "Look, The Tiger Spirit's totally indifferent to bears. He won't mess with either of you, okay? Lay off."

The Prince fixed his gaze on him meaningfully.

"Wait, you're worried _I'll_ attack?"

Another nod. Manny barked quietly in laughter. "Dude, I'm with a bear. If I really hated them, would I date one?"

The bear didn't answer. Manny sighed again and put his head in his hand. "Look, I know my tempers back, okay? But I'm working on it, and I'm pretty dang good at keeping myself calm. If I was going to snap at either of you, I'm pretty sure I would have done it by now. You've got nothing to worry about."

The bear stared at Manny. Manny stared back. Eventually, it padded away and curled up next to its mate with one last warning snarl.

Manny glanced at the spirit. "Did you know that bears can see you?"

It shook its head. "Me neither. Good thing Oso's got human eyes, then." He sighed and flopped back onto the ground, covering his eyes with a hand. "This is why I hate camping." He muttered grumpily under his breath.

* * *

"You guys went camping without me?_ So_ not fair."

"Frida, someone had to stay behind and protect Miracle City. You just happened to be one of those people." Manny paused. "Besides, there wasn't any internet connection, and you can't live without your music."

Frida shrugged and fell onto her bed with a smirk. "You and Oso in the middle of the woods going stir-crazy, with no real survival skills on your half?" She chuckled. "That's all the entertainment I'd need."

"Thank you for being _so_ sympathetic to my inadequacies." Manny grunted sourly, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"It's a gift." Frida grinned. She held up a fist. "I'll go with you next time. Ya'know, to help break the ice."

"There won't _be_ a next time if I can help it." He grumbled. Even so, Manny smiled and returned the offered fist-bump. "But, sure, knock yourself out. Just don't blame me if we survive."

**Author's Note: And so, Manny managed to survive an entire weekend with three bears and no real backup. Give the boy a prize. =)**

**I'd really like some reviews, if you wouldn't mind. =) I know people are reading my fic, but no one seems interested in commenting. I'm guessing that's good _and_ bad. **

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	10. Fair Warning

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Drabble: Fair Warning**

**...**

**Guest (Oct 28)- (Grandpapi steals jetpack before Manny can find it to sell it for some extra cash to add to his stash) Thanks! **

**spotty-bee\- I'd love to hear chapter ideas! Seriously, as long as they're polite, I love getting ideas! everyone, anyone, if you have an idea or something that you'd like to review/pm me about, please do! [I'd still like to get plenty of normal reviews, though. =)]**

**...**

The first thing that came to Manny's mind as he trekked through the gold-littered hallway was that he was an idiot. The second thing that occurred to him was that he was, well, a super idiot.

A skeleton guard snarled at him as he went by. Manny pointedly unsheathed his metal claws. The guard squealed and ran down the hall from whence he came.

"Ah, Manuel." Sartana gestured to the metal seat across from her with a bony claw. "Please, sit down. I'm glad you could make it here on such short notice."

"Okay, now I'm really worried." The table was a simple metal garden table, with simple metal chairs. It was dark outside, but lanterns were hung around the area to give them the proper lighting they needed. Had it been two other people there, with two other histories, the scene could almost (almost) be mistaken for romantic. But this wasn't two different people, and Manny had no doubt that she was trying to both comfort (to be able to make a surprise attack) and unsettle him (to make him paranoid). And it was working. "No one calls me Manuel. Not unless I'm in trouble."

"My mistake." She shrugged, watching him sit down with a critical eye. "I've always wondered about that, actually. Is Manny a personal preference, or..."

Manny shrugged. "It's just what people call me. It's not really a preference or anything."

"Ah, I see." She set her claws on the table, ringing them together casually. "Now, I've called you here on an important matter."

"So I gathered." He leaned back in his chair in a show of nonchalance, green eyes never leaving hers. "Is this 'matter' of yours gonna end up killing me?"

"Of course not." She raised a bony hand in her defense, then, reconsidering, brought it to her chin. "Well, not directly, anyway."

"Alright then. Shoot."

Sartana's claw twitched towards her guitar, but Manny kept up his charade. She sighed. "Did you know that I've never been outside Miracle City before?"

Manny blinked, lowering the two front legs of the chair in surprise. "You haven't?"

"No, I haven't." She shook her head. "Imagine, over three hundred years old and I haven't even been far enough beyond the city limits to get the volcano dust out of my bones. I've had the odd vacation, sure, but its just not enough for this villain."

"Okay then." He answered slowly, leaning back once again. "And what's this got to do with me?"

"Not much, honestly, but I thought it would be proper to inform my enemies of my departure. Give them fair warning, per say."

"Fair warning?"

"Yes! What kind of world do we live in when a villain can't even do the honorable thing and tell her enemies when she's leaving the scene for awhile?" She shook her head in disgust. "Since you are my most persistent foe, as well as the one I have the most... _history_ with," She glanced pointedly at the scar over his eye, which Manny felt the sudden urge to cover. Stupid Sartana with her stupid sharp claws... "I thought you would be the best to tell and have spread the news to the rest of your... kin."

"So... you're going out of town? That's it? That's what all this fuss was about?" Manny stood and prepared to leave, but Sartana held up a claw.

"Not quite everything, I'm afraid." Manny slumped back into the chair and crossed his arms. "You see, while I am leaving to travel, I couldn't bear for my empire to freeze, or, worse, fall, in my absence. And so, as I have no one else to rely on that is properly trained and loyal only to me, Django is going to take over for me while I am away."

"Django?" He leaned further back in his seat. "Dang. Haven't seen him in years. Is he... still mad about...?"

"You rejecting his offer and tossing him into lava to perish?" Sartana supplied with a grimace.

"Er, something like that, yes."

"Yes. Very. He mentioned something about planning to kill you, but that's nothing out of the ordinary for you Rivera's, so..."

"Ah." He tugged at his collar. "Alright, if that's everything..."

"It is."

"Then, uh, I wish you good luck and all that."

"And plenty of bad luck to you." She nodded.

No one moved.

"Sartana?"

"Yes, El Tigre?"

"This isn't just about you going traveling, is it?"

"What do you mean?" She raised an eyebrow.

"This is a test, isn't it?" Manny hesitated. "For Django. To see what he'll do when you aren't watching over him."

"I honestly do wish to travel the world, don't doubt that for a second. It has been a dream of mine for hundreds of years, along with taking it over and ending the Rivera bloodline forever." Sartana examined her claws as she spoke, standing up as she did so. "But, yes, this is a sort of test. I want to see what will become of my empire once Django takes it over completely, and being away is the perfect way to get a taste of what is to come. That, and I want to see how he'll attempt to destroy the great El Tigre. It should be a great show, don't you agree?"

Manny swallowed. "Yeah, I guess."

A pointed claw prodded his chest as Sartana's voice lowered to a growl. "Tell anyone that little bit of information and i'll kill you myself, got it?"

Manny leaned back and attempted nonchalance once again. "Please, Sartana. Who would believe me?"

"... You have a point." She leaned back. "Fine then. I trust your pride will be more than enough to render you incapable of tattling to your father or grandfather anyway."

"You can trust me to keep quiet, Sartana." He nodded seriously. Messing up here, in the heart of Sartana's lair, wasn't an action he recommended for himself. If she wanted him to keep quiet, then he would.

Until he needed to tell, that is.

"Bah! I trust no one but myself." She turned around and waved a dismissive claw. "Get out of my sight, El Tigre. You're stinking up the place with that horrible cologne El Oso wears when he's trying to be fancy."

Manny froze. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It _means_ that you just proved all those little rumors to be true." Sartana grinned smugly. "A tiger and a bear, huh? Interesting matchup, I guess, but really? _El Oso_ is the best you can do, Tigre? I thought you'd have better taste than that."

"I..." Manny swallowed his anger without a second thought. It was all instinct, by now, after all. "I don't have to stand here and listen to this. I'm out." He turned and stalked out the door.

"I thought you'd say that." The skeleton chuckled with a shake of her head. "Django's going to_ love_ this."

**Author's Note: And so, Manny's anger builds up even more, and the secret is out to his mortal enemies. (for those wondering about the cologne bit, El Oso took Manny to a semi-good restaurant (like two stars) a day or two earlier and wore his favorite cologne **(The cheap kind. Y'know, the kind of stuff that hangs around for awhile.)** to try and pull off a gentlemanly image while shoveling food into his mouth like a pig. Needless to say, Manny didn't buy it, and laughed his butt off.)**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	11. Choices

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Drabble: Choices**

**...**

**Guest (November 12)- (-Snorts- Can I just say that I loved this little mini-exchange jetpack-keepaway thing we've done here? Because I really did.) Django's not really going to be a big character, actually. He's more or less going to be a fur-ruffler. **

**Now, when Toshiro finally makes his few-chapter appearance, that should be fun. =) Don't mess with the Cyber Sumo.**

**...**

El Oso was_ not_ a light sleeper. He _never_ woke up before eight, be it hurricane nor lava flow nor skeleton zombie raid that attempted otherwise.

So, bursting awake in the middle of the night for _any_ reason was _not_ a normal happening, and immediately set his teeth on edge.

He sniffed the air. Paper and coin money, his little brother snoring in the living room, the light whiff of tiger mixed in with his natural scent. Nothing out of the-

Wait.

He growled and slipped out of bed as quietly as possible (which, for a lumbering half-asleep bear-man, wasn't all that quiet). Skeleton. And it wasn't even Sartana herself come to visit. It didn't even smell like her cronies. No, it was something else. Something... In between.

Something was wrong.

"I see you're finally awake, you big oaf."

He whirled around. There, comfortably perched in the doorway, arms crossed, was a teenage skeleton, normal-sized (and not _nearly_ as large as Sartana's) guitar strapped to his back.

Oso cocked his head to the side. "Ain't chu Sartana's grandson, or something?"

"I'm her nephew." He nodded.

"Oh, okay. So, uh, what're you doings here, man?"

"Oh, nothing much." Django shrugged and stepped into the room, cruising the space as though he'd done so every day of his afterlife. "I just thought I'd take a look around; see what's big in evil lair decor these days, stuff like that."

"I _meant_ what chu doing here in Miracle City?" He crossed his arms. Something about the air surrounding the small skeleton felt... off. "I thought yous hated it here?"

"Oh, that?" He feigned mild surprise. "Nana's going on a trip, and, seeing how I'm one of the few allies she has left in the family, she asked me to take over while she's gone." He paused. "And I don't hate Miracle City. I hate El Tigre."

Suddenly, the air felt that much more tense. El Oso was pretty sure everyone in Miracle City knew about his 'scandalous relations' with Tigre (everyone but that seriously-out-of-the-know White Pantera. Seriously, man, get a clue), and he didn't doubt that Django was among those in the know. This could prove dangerous, if not handled carefully.

(which was the real problem, when you thought about it. When was he _ever_ careful?)

"Oh."

"Oh indeed." He hummed, setting a picture frame down. El Oso rocked on his heels.

"So, uh, what's you gonna do about him?"

"Kill him, of course." Django caught Oso's dropped jaw out of the corner of his eye socket. "He tossed me into_ lava_, El Oso. Do you know how much magic it takes to get _lava_ out of your bones, not to mention repairs?"

"Uh, no?"

"Good. Take it from me, Oso. You don't want to know."

Villains didn't kill heroes, just like heroes didn't kill villains. At least, not unless it was in a semi-fair fight, or by complete and utter accident. The newest wave of heroes/villains/the in-betweens were_ children_, for pete's sake. No one in Miracle City had the guts to kill a child. Not if they wanted to survive, at least.

Those were the unspoken rules of Miracle City. But Django wasn't raised in Miracle City, and Oso got the feeling that, even though he_ did_ know the rules, he felt he had every right to disregard them. 'Fair' wasn't in his vocabulary, and he told him so.

"Like you said, Oso, I'm not from around here." Was his defense. "I don't have to follow _your_ rules."

He would if he was taking over. The others- Villain and Hero alike- would make sure of it.

Django waved a claw. "Those weakings? Please. They don't even deserve the title of 'super-villain.'" The skeleton watched him with a newfound interest, the mention of heroes making him curious. "You know, for a villain, you sure do seem to like defending El Tigre, Oso."

Oso frowned. "Tigre can take care of himself." Better than he could, at least. "But it ain'ts fair; breaking the rules like that."

"You know what, El Oso? I don't think the rules are the problem here." Django stepped forward, and Oso suddenly realized that those claws of his were _sharp_. Dangerously so. Could tear a larger man in half _sharp_. "I had heard about your_ relations_ with Tigre, but I'd thought they were bluffing. It seems I was wrong."

Say the right thing, and Tigre died. Say the wrong thing, and they _both_ died.

Well, it wasn't like he wouldn't have gotten dragged into things eventually anyway...

"Not a bluff. Dude's okay company."

"I see." Django didn't seem very surprised. He looked over his claws. "I lied. When I said I was visiting. I just wanted to check out any possible allies."

"Huh?"

"You heard me. Tell me, Oso, who's side are you on, exactly?"

That wasn't exactly a big secret. "Evil, duh."

"_Idiot_." He hissed. Django sighed and shook his head. "Allow me to rephrase that. Are you with me, or against me?"

He stepped even closer, almost chest-to-chest with the slightly taller man, bending his neck slightly to look him in the eye (and, man, that kid had certainly had his fair share of growth spurts while he was gone). "Tigre is the main reason I agreed to take Nana's place. And, while I'm honestly baffled by his tastes, he seems to trust you. I could use that against him, should you work for me, or simply break the tie if you don't, to cause emotional stress. But, first, I need to know _where you stand_."

"I, uh..." Betray El Tigre and get one of the strongest super-powered kids _ever_ pissed at him, or let Django do his thing without him. A possible (doubtful) break up, or broken bones with an extended prison stay while he healed.

El Oso was stupid, but he wasn't _that_ stupid.

(That, and he kind of liked having the guy around. Not that he'd ever admit it to anyone, _ever_.)

"Get outta my cave!" El Oso swept a meaty paw through Django's midsection area, hoping to knock his top from his bottom, hoping to push him away, hoping to do _anything_, really, but Django easily bounced away, face grim but not necessarily surprised.

"Have it your way, Oso. I don't need you or your muscle to carry out my plans."

"In the end, the only one you're helping here is_ you_."

And then he was gone.

Slumping back onto his couch (when had they moved? It all seemed like a blur. Maybe when Django was looking through his stuff?), two things occurred to him.

One; El Tigre was going to kill him.

And two; he should really start locking his doors.

**Author's Note: I just really wanted to write a little thing between Django and Oso. The duo aren't really going to meet up much in here. Once, maybe two other times? Maybe. =)**

**Anyhow, story ideas are always welcome! I'd love to hear what you think, through PM or review (although I'd prefer PM; I like reviews being just that, reviews. =))!**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	12. Let Go

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Drabble: Let Go**

**...**

**Author's Note: Whelp, no new reviews to answer. Oh well. Uh, sorry this took so long? I, uh, honestly had to come up with this one first. I mean, I have a good four chapters worth of ideas, at least, but it feels too early to bust them out yet, so I came up with this two parter.**

**...**

She met him at the edge of the city, where the concrete and stone broke off into forest land.

"So, taking off for a few days, huh?"

"What gave it away?" El Tigre thrust a claw pointedly at the small bag hanging off his shoulders.

"Eh." Frida shrugged. "Call it an educated guess."

"Frida, you hate education."

"No, I hate being locked in a small building for hours on end with bossy teachers cramming me into small desks and making me write useless stuff down off boards when we all know I learn best on my feet, _outdoors_, especially when there are songs I can listen to about whatever I'm learning. Difference."

"Touche." Tigre shifted his bag. "Hey, do me a favor?"

"Tell your folks you're running away?"

"Well, I was thinking more along the lines of 'solo-camping', but that'll do too."

"Sure. But only on one condition."

"Shoot."

"You tell me the truth. Is it Fuzzball?"

"I never said anything about- wait." He raised an eyebrow. "Fuzzball? You _named_ it?"

"Yeah, so?" She raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Uh, nothing, Frida. You just keep going on with your bad self, there."

"Always. So, am I right or what?"

"It's just..." Tigre sighed. "Look, Frida, I need some time to myself, okay? I'll be back before you know it."

"Doubtful. I already know it."

"You're insufferable, you know that?"

Frida smirked. "It's part of my charm." Pushing off the tree she was leaning on, she reached over and hugged him tight. "Be careful, you hear? I didn't become your equal so you could go off on your own and get yourself killed."

"Equal?" He scoffed. "Please. You were always my equal. You just got sick of sitting around Sartana's cells."

Frida pulled back with a huff. "Hey, they took away my playing cards. _No one_ messes with my playing cards and gets away with it."

Tigre chuckled. "See you soon, Frida. Have fun busting skulls."

She grunted noncommittally, looking over the rusty pipe she totted around as a weapon, watching him walk away out of the corner of her eye.

"Fun. Right. Like I can have any real fun without my number one trouble buddy. Stupid Fuzzball, making him run off like this. Again. Jerk. You better bring him back safe."

* * *

Peace. Calm. Serenity. Peace. Calm. Serenity. He breathed in, then let it out. Meditation wasn't really his strong suit, but it was all he_ could_ do at a time like this. Sit down... Relax... Ignore the urges... Not think about his sharp, sharp claws, just itching to-

No! He shifted, then settled back down.

Peace. Calm. Sere-

_'And here we are once again, Manuel. Honestly, you really suck at this.'_

Tigre didn't even twitch an ear. Fuzzball snorted mildly in irritation and slipped around his side to his front.

_'You come out here with two huge bags of nasty tea and plans to meditate every single time you do this. But what now?'_

"I shut you up, that's what."

_'Uh uh uh. Them's fightin' words, and you're here to be 'peaceful', remember?'_

"You're a jerk sometimes, you know that?"

_'I'm a part of you, Manuel. **You're** a jerk.'_

"Touche, Fuzzball."

Tigre smirked at the sound of a groaning tiger, feeling smug.

_'Your friend is annoying.'_

"Ah, but you're a part of me, remember? _Our_ friend if annoying."

_'Don't use my own words against me. That's **my** job.'_ The tiger rolled its radioactive green eyes and sat down beside the human with a flourish. _'Tell me, why are you here?'_

"To fight evil, rob the odd bank, share a good joke with friends once in a blue moon-"

_'Don't get all philosophical on me. That's what your mother's for. Why** here**? Why not someplace closer to home? Say, Miracle City?'_

"I'm not going to destroy a city block just to feel better. I'm not _that_ evil."

_'Ah, but that's the problem, isn't it? Your just not good enough, just not evil enough. You're in between, balanced. **Balance** isn't normally a thing in the Rivera family, is it?'_

"That's not really any of your business."

_'No, its not.'_ It agreed with a nod. _'But El Tigre is, and that 'family' of yours is part of the reason you're out here.'_ The spirit got to its paws and began to pace. _'Face it, Tigre. They'll never fully accept you. Not on this level.'_

"They're... Old fashioned."

_'So are you.'_

"Which I don't deny."

_'But, even so, they don't understand. You're different, and they just can't accept that.'_

"I have metal claws and a tail. _Of course_ I'm different."

_'There's a reason most El Tigre's go crazy, you know. And this is it.'_

"Family issues don't translate into insanity. At least, not these kind."

_'Ah, but that does. Never-ending indecisiveness. Eternal second guessing.'_

"I'm not indecisive. I've made my choice."

_'But you don't have the guts to tell them that, do you?'_

He didn't have to open his eyes to know that the spirit was smirking. "Shut up."

_'Admit it, Manny. All you're doing, running here, is trying to suppress the problem, not fix it.'_

"Hey, if it works, it works."

Fuzzball chuckled as he circled the teen, tail brushing his neck. _'But what happens when it **stops** working?'_

The teen's expression was strained. "It's not gonna stop working."

_'Please, Manny. You're smarter than that.'_

Tigre didn't answer, claws threatening to slide out. The spirit chuckled once again.

_'Go on, let 'em out. Let it **all** out.'_

"I'm better than that."

_'Nothing around here to hurt; just some trees. You won't even be able to feel all that guilty later.'_

He grit his teeth, scrambling for an excuse. Any excuse. "Trees are people to."

The spirit didn't even dignify his rather lame attempt with a response._ 'Manny, just give in. I promised you I wouldn't kill anything, and I haven't broken that promise yet, have I? Heck, if anything, we'll be **helping** the local lumberjack.'_

"I'm in control."

_'Better now than at home, right? Or with El Oso?'_ Fuzzball pretended to give it some thought. _'You wouldn't want him to see you like this, would you?'_

Manny saw red.

* * *

A few hours and a decent amount of destroyed forest later, Tigre finally came to his senses, Fuzzball radiating a smug but calm aura as he watched the green circle in his eyes fade a sliver from where he sat.

_'Feeling better?'_

Yes, yes he was. But he couldn't admit that aloud. Not after all of that.

Tugging helplessly on the claws embedded in one of the still standing (albeit rather clawed up) trees, Tigre finally gave up and sank to his knees to catch his breath, guilt beginning to sink in.

"I'm in control."

_'Says the kid with his claws twelve inches deep in a tree.'_

"I'm better than this." He grit his teeth. "This will never happen again. Ever."

The Great Tiger Spirit merely shrugged. _'Whatever helps you sleep at night.'_

**Author's Note: Our first taste of Manny's temper! And isn't it the destructive one?**

**Uh, just to be clear, that thing about education wasn't a anti-school thing or anything like that. It was just Frida expressing her irritation that the Miracle City school systems are so old-school (-winces-, that is such a horrible pun, I know) about different learning styles. They're the kind of school where you just take a bunch of notes and memorize chapters, but I can't help but headcanon that Frida is a audio learner with a bit of hands-on mixed in, while Manny's almost all hands-on, which makes it really hard for them to retain what they learn. So, yeah. It's a pro-different learning styles thing. In a kids cartoon fanfiction. Man, I'm a dork.**

**Oh, and the Fuzzball you met here wasn't the same one as the one during the camping chapters. The Great Tiger Spirit tends to reflect Manny's attitude, or, in some cases, act as its foil. Here, because Manny's anger was becoming self-destructive, Fuzzball became the thing that pushed it over the edge so he could blow off some steam.**

**I headcanon (which is canon in this AU, obviously) that most of the El Tigre's prior to Manny went crazy from the pressure and their own indecisiveness (like the guy in the Day of the Dead, crazy. Not full-on psycho or anything). El Tigre's are also extremely rare in the Rivera Bloodline, and Pantera and Puma are trying so hard to make him choose a side because they don't want him to go crazy. They just aren't aware that that is what_ drove_ most of them batty.**

**There'll be more Frida next chapter, I promise. A lot more. And a (hopefully) shorter Author's Note.**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	13. The Blue Sheep (Of The Family)

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Drabble: The Blue Sheep (Of The Family)**

**...**

**spotty-bee\- Thanks! =)**

**...**

As Manny's best friend, it was perfectly natural for her to want to be on par with him, right? Right.

It was also perfectly natural to skip trying to learn the tricks of the trade from the (rather useless, honestly) Miracle City Police Department in favor of learning from experience how to crunch skull-heads and short-out metal monsters, skipping everything from school to sleep (but never food. You'd have to _kill_ her first) to become one of Miracle City's many vigilante's, right? Right.

(Well, her family didn't think so, but she'd never really been a full-time member of the Suarez family, anyway.)

And if Manny woke up one morning, picked up the phone, and called her saying "Hey, I'm feeling bad today. Wanna go rob something?" It was perfectly alright for her to go with him, let loose, get arrested, and spend a whopping two days in Miracle City Juvenile Detention Center (which was, arguably, worse than the prison), before joining in the breakout and escaping back into the city in the middle of the night.

Right? Right.

Her family might be pissed at her for it, but they've never exactly seen eye-to-eye, anyway. Grandpapi'd be proud of her, at least. Minus the whole 'getting caught' bit, of course.

"Do you think they're actually gonna search for us?"

"The others? Probably. Us? Nah." Manny shrugged, gracefully leaping to the next building top. Frida followed, albeit a bit clumsier. They walked the ledge together, unafraid of falling.

"Cool. Papa's gonna be mad at me, though."

"What else is new?"

True, true. Papa loved her with all of his heart, just like he loved all of his family, but that didn't mean they got along. Which they didn't.

"_Your_ dad is gonna be mad too, you know."

"That's nothing new, either. I'll get Grandpapi on my side and everything'll work out."

Well, mostly true. It'll all work out, in a sense, but Manny's going to be kicking himself for a month for getting them both caught.

Frida glanced at the smoke cloud left in their wake several blocks away. It certainly wasn't _volcano ash_, that's for sure. "Whelp. There goes the Juvenile Center. They'll have to add a new wing to the prison." But, like she said, the prison was safer anyway, so that's cool.

Manny, in his El Tigre form, stops dead for a second, shoulders stiff. "Say it."

Frida merely raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"

"You've got something on your mind. Say it."

"I was getting there." She retorts, but she really wasn't. They leap over to another building. "You're kicking yourself again."

"Of course I am. We got caught."

"That's not what I meant." A pause. "There's nothing wrong with having a temper, you know. We _all_ have our limits."

"My 'temper' can and has destroyed city blocks, Frida. That's not healthy."

"Well, no, it isn't. But neither is risking life and limb to break out of juvy." She sped up a few steps and put a hand on his shoulder. He froze. "You're handling it as best you can, Manny. That's what matters. Beating yourself up over it isn't gonna help."

"Frida... you're crazy, you know that?" He sighed. The kink in his shoulders that had been there for weeks unwound, if only a little.

"So I've been told." She smirked.

"And way to good at giving advice._ Especially_ for a crazy person."

"It's a gift. I can give some pretty good advice, I just can't follow it." She nudged him. "Come'on, we'll get caught at this rate."

"Caught? Please." He snorted, starting to move. "In a couple of hours they'll be _begging_ us to come help them round the others up."

"Sure, but those few hours are still pretty dangerous, and I don't plan on going back to juvy, do you?"

Manny sped up. Frida sped up.

They don't speak for awhile, but that's alright. It's never quiet in Miracle City, so there's never any awkward silence. Police sirens, shouts, the odd explosion. The usual. It makes her wonder what her father was thinking when he offered to transfer here back when she was a baby.

Was he gonna try to fix things? All the bleach in the _world_ couldn't keep this place clean, and everyone knows it.

"Frida?"

"Yup?"

"Why're you here?"

Frida shrugged. "Well, my Papa and Mama loved each other_ very_ much, so-"

"_Frida_!"

"What? You asked; I answered."

"I _meant_ why're you out here? With me? Why not be at home, with your folks?"

Because it wasn't_ home_, that's why.

"Manny, if I told you that my hair was completely natural, would you believe me?"

A single green eye examined her bright blue locks a second with a shrug. "Well, considering I've known you as long as we've been in school together and I've yet to see a single dye bottle, I'd have to say yes."

"Well, you'd be the first. Sometimes I think _Mom_ forgets, even. I know my sisters have. They keep trying to find some dye bottles to spike with pink." She glanced at the cloud of smoke drifting above Miracle City, this one_ not_ because of a fire. "I think it has something to do with all the magic and volcano dust lingering around here. Mostly the former, but the latter sounds a lot cooler. 'My hair came from volcano dust.' Sounds pretty cool, huh?"

"It does." Manny agrees, chuckling. Then he grew serious. "What's that got to do with anything?"

Frida shrugged. "Not much, really." A pause. "There was someone else in the family with blue hair, actually. An Uncle. Great-Uncle? Something like that. He, uh, he was pretty strange."

"How strange?"

"Crazy cat guy, strange. Mom... she won't admit it, but I think she thinks I'm gonna be like him someday. Crazy, even weirder than I already am, kinda hermit-y." She fixed him a look. "Sound familiar?"

Manny grunted in response. It was answer enough.

"Anyway. Mama thinks I'm gonna snap one of these days, my sisters think I've _already_ snapped, and Papa..." She paused. Frida sighed. "We all know what Papa thinks of me."

That's what had drawn them together that day in detention, actually. The feeling of 'I'm not normal' floating in the air, mixing together and forming a strange friendship that would last throughout the years. Heck, her opening line to him that day_ still_ summed it up.

_"Whelp, I'm different, you're different, and they locked us in together. Wanna prank the cafeteria tomorrow?"_

Kinda puts things into perspective, doesn't it?

"Your whole _family_ is weird. They don't even blink when I spend the night, or bring over dinner for everybody. I'm just another part of the family." She swallowed. "I guess I'm more Rivera than I am Suarez, huh?"

Manny didn't say anything for a moment. Then, he slowly nodded. "I guess you are."

"And that's cool, don't get me wrong. I feel more comfortable out here with you, Fuzzball, and a rusty pipe than I do at home, playing law trivia games with Papa and my sisters." She shrugged. "Guess I'm just weird like that."

Manny didn't answer for awhile, and that's cool. Frida wasn't really looking for answers. They leapt to another building, this one just far enough away that Manny whips around to grab her hand and haul her up when she falls_ just_ short of the ledge.

He stared at her a long moment, green eyes practically looking into her soul and she_ hates_ it when she sounds sappy, then he squeezes her hand comfortingly and lets go.

"Just so you know, I'd rather be out here with you and Fuzzball then back home, too."

Frida grins.

"We oughta invite Oso next time. He'd have a blast." _And everyone knows a jail break is the **perfect** kind of date_, she finishes mentally with a inner snort.

"Are you kidding me? El Oso's _terrified_ of you."

"Good. He should be."

She comes home hours later, covered in dirt and slime, pipe slung proudly across her shoulder.

One of her sisters scoffs as she closes the door behind her. The other rolls her eyes.

"Frida-"

"Why're you-"

"So weird?" They finish together scornfully. They twin things been going on since they were little, so she doubts it's ever gonna change, no matter_ how_ old they get.

"Oh, trust me, things one and two. It's genetic."

Then she walks up the stairs for a shower and sleep, ignoring their shouts of protest. _They're just in denial._

**Author's Note: Frida's always been the odd one out in the Suarez family. (At least, that's my headcanon) **

**With the Rivera's, she's practically a family member. She's not the odd one out, or the one that people just chuckle, pat her head, and ignore. She's another, legitimate person with a voice and opinion with_ all_ of the family, not just some. **

**Her family is made up of cops. Frida's an on-and-off 'vigilante' who totes around a metal pipe (or crowbar, whichever she more in the mood for) and hangs out with one of the few undecided hero/villains or Miracle City and causes trouble. It's no wonder they don't quite mix. =)**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	14. Scared To Fall

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso**

**Drabble: Scared To Fall**

**Alternate Name: Cats In Trees**

**Author's Note: My first (and probably only) time writing Zoey!**

**...**

Zoey Aves was many many things. Strong, temperamental, just to name a few.

On that list, no matter how long and distinguished it may have been, patience was not among the words engraved there.

Because Zoey Aves wasn't patient. And she didn't have any problem with that.

Normally.

"Stupid cat. Stupid tree." She kicked the trunk, ignoring the pain blossoming in her toes. "Stupid pride. I could've called the fire department, but_ no_. I had to try and play the hero.

Think. She examined her claws. How did one even go about extracting a stuck cat from a tree? Maybe there was a how-to guide in the library? That one nice lady with the curly black hair would probably be able to help her, at least...

The cat yowled. Zoey grunted in irritation. She didn't have_ time_ to read a how-to manual.

"Maybe... I can break the branch, then catch it before it hits the ground?"

"Sure, if you want to_ kill_ the poor thing."

She whipped around and bunched her firsts. "Frida."

"Zoey." The other girl didn't bat an eye at the display of aggression. "Look at all those branches. It'd break_ something_ on the way down."

"As much as I hate to admit it, you have a point." She turned back to the tree with a frown and critical eye, claw cupping her chin. "Why are you here?"

"Well, I _was_ helping Manny with a bank robbery, but then I saw you debating on how to kill a poor, defenseless kitten, and decided to join the conversation. It's just the mustache dorks; Manny'll be fine." A pause. "But, seriously, Cuervo. This is _cold_, even for you."

"I'm not trying to_ kill_ it, I'm trying to_ save_ it."

"Save it?" Frida raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I happen to like cats."

"You _hate_ cats. Your whole super villain persona is a creature that _hates_ cats. It's why you and Manny would never have worked out."

Zoey shifted uncomfortably with a growl. "Remind me of my embarrassing fangirl days again, Suarez. See what happens."

"No thanks. I think _one_ scarred face is plenty around here." She lifted her goggles from where they lay on her chest to get a better look at the tree. She whistled. "How can a tree even _grow_ that tall around here? You'd think the volcano dust in the air would've killed it by now."

"Maybe it's magic?"

"A magic tree?" She lowered the goggles with a shrug. "A little cliche, but it makes sense. You know, you _could_ just call the fire department. Or, I dunno, animal services, or something."

"Why? So I can get arrested?"

"Point taken. Alright then, it looks like there's only one other option."

"Which is?"

She tapped the trunk with her hand. "We climb."

Zoey scoffed. "I don't _climb_. And even if did, I wouldn't with _you_."

"Newsflash, I don't want to either. But that's a perfectly innocent kitty up there, and it's my job to help get it down."

"I thought _your_ job was all about beating things up?"

"It is. This is just one of those things vigilante's do on the side that no one ever hears about."

"_Vigilante's_ rescue cats from trees? Forgive me if I don't believe it."

"Okay, so most don't. But Miracle City one's do." Frida grabbed the first branch hesitantly. "Tell me the truth. Can you climb?"

"Buildings? Yes. Trees?" She hesitated. "No clue. I've never tried it before."

"Me neither. Not like this, at least. But, hey, it can't be all that different from buildings, right?"

Zoey hesitated a few moments longer before joining her on the first branch beside the one she sat on. "If I fall and die, I will take vengeance on you from the afterlife."

"Bring it on, Aves."

"So, tell me the truth." Frida said halfway up. "Why're you _really_ doing this?"

Zoey shrugged. "I'm conducting an experiment, of sorts."

"About what?" She paused. "Wait a-_ you_ put the cat up there!?"

"No! I hate cats; I'd never touch one willingly."

"And yet here you are, risking life and limb to save one."

"Shut up and climb, Suarez."

They reached the top, took a short break, then carefully extracted the cat from the thinner edge of the branch.

"How are we going to get down?" Zoey asked, staring down at the ground far below.

"Well, you've got wings." She tapped her chest proudly. "And I've got dumb luck."

"_Luck_ is going to help you get down?"

"No, _dumb luck_ is. Of which I have plenty." She shrugged. "See you on the ground."

And then, no wings, no safety harness, no _anything _besides her mass amounts of 'dumb luck', Frida pushed herself off the branch and fell straight down without so much as a yelp. (Although, Zoey was pretty she caught a whoop floating away on the wind)

"Moron!" Zoey called after her, taking to her wings. "You're going to kill yourself over a stupid cat?"

It seemed, however, that Frida had more than just luck on her side. She also had a good amount of skills from years of practice falling and a healthy amount of self-preservation skills when things got tough, and used them to her advantage. Grabbing the second branch from the ground with a grace that didn't suit her in the least, she did a flip, the weight and force fully hit the piece of wood halfway through, and came tumbling down those last few feet to the ground with a broken branch in her hand, a little bruised but otherwise alright.

Zoey landed on the ground without a problem, her wings folding back to her sides. The cat squirmed in her grip. She bent the tiniest bit closer to the blue-haired girl currently sprawled on the ground. "Are you dead?"

"Unfortunately for you, no."

"Oh." The cat swiped its claws across the semi-soft fabric of her glove, tearing holes in the fabric and puncturing the skin underneath with a surprising amount of ease. Zoey jumped and let go. "Ow!" She shook her fist at the feline's retreating figure. "Ungrateful waste of time!"

"Oh, let it go already. It's just a cat." Frida stood up and stretched, wincing at the sound of things popping in her back as she swiveled to and fro. "I have to admit, I was kinda hoping you'd be the one on the ground, not me."

"And I'm glad it was you, not me, who did."

"Thanks." She grunted sourly. "Alright, spill it. What was all this about?"

"I told you; it was an experiment."

"You never said what kind of experiment." Frida's eyes narrowed.

Zoey spluttered. "What? How _dare_ you- my sworn enemy- demands answer from me like this!?"

"Zoey, I just fell out of a tree. Well, technically, I jumped out of the tree, but the point still stands." She shrugged. "I just wanna know if there was, ya'know, an actual _point_ to all of this, or if it was just a random yet intricate way to try and kill me off, or whatever."

Zoey sighed and looked away. "Oh, alright. I guess you have a point."

"I do."

"It was... a test of my morals." She turned away, rubbing her arm awkwardly. "I'm... a bit _off_, compared to the rest of my family. I got over El Tigre. I'm still in a perfectly normal, civilian school. I'm not completely evil. Not to their definition, at least."

"So... what? You wanna switch sides?"

"Become completely good? Please. I'm nothing like that fool White Pantera or his goody-two-shoes superhero buddies. I was thinking more along the lines of... undecided. Or maybe it'd be best if I just got out while I'm behind, or something."

"Undecided?_ Awesome_! Miracle City's _needed_ someone besides Manny around to keep it on its toes."

"What about you? You're a hero with a goody-two-shoes police-force family. Surely you don't believe-"

"Dude, I'm a vigilante, not a hero." Frida leaned an arm on her shoulder with a grin, taking joy in the irritation that flickered across the other girls face. "Around here, it's the same as being undecided, only without all the cool powers. You wanna rescue the odd cat from a tree, or stop the odd bank robbery? Let nothing but common sense and fear of hitting the ground stop you."

For the first time in a long while, Zoey's lips twitched upwards in the semblance of a smile. "I suppose you _do_ have a point." She conceded.

"Of course I do."

"Whatever. But no matter _what_ happens, don't think this will end the grudge between us."

"You're kidding me, right? I wouldn't want things any other way."

**Author's Note: So, I know I've been focusing on Frida a lot lately, but Frida's just as big a character in the show (and the story) as Manny and Oso, and she's a lot of fun to explore. Don't worry, things'll go back to Manny, Fuzzball, and Oso sooner or later.**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	15. Boiling Over (Part 1)

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Drabble: Boiling Over (Part 1)**

**Author's Note: I've been waiting for this mini-arc for forever! Oh, and it's back to Manny.**

**...**

Manny's first dealing with the Great Tiger Spirit had merely been to draw strength.

A simple summoning, to give him the boost he needed to take down Sartana. And, sure, his blood had bubbled in a way that he couldn't really explain, and he'd felt more than a little at home, covered in flames, the spirit of his powers surrounding him, racing across the sky, but it wasn't anything he couldn't ignore.

He'd refused to believe the obvious, then. That he and Fuzzball were connected, that it _wasn't_ something he could flick on and off like a light switch. Because if he did give in, if he did believe, he might end up like his ancestors before him- batty.

But then, above the floor that would give way to lava, in front of villains who hung from the wall like prizes, chained, El Tigre summoned the Tiger Spirit's power in anger.

Not consciously, obviously. There wasn't any green fire or giant tigers; just a pounding in his chest, a boiling in his blood that he couldn't control, couldn't find it in him to _want_ to control. The slits of his eyes converged to form a full circle, gleaming acid green in the dim lighting.

He didn't know it yet, but his actions weren't completely his own. He had Fuzzball's instincts backing him up, as well as Django's manipulations. But at that point he didn't care. All that mattered was taking down the two people who dared make a mockery of him by _any means necessary_.

But, as everyone knew, he got himself under control (mostly) last second and took down Django and Sartana. At that point, Manny had thought it was all over.

But then things escalated.

A green shadow started following him wherever he went. Anything and everything could and would send him into a rage. A street block or two were demolished in what he could only describe as super-powered temper tantrums.

Frida started training under him and Grandpapi to be a vigilante (although everyone knew that most of her experience really came from on-the-job training). Frida would always say that it was to be his equal on the battlefield, and Manny would always say it was so she didn't get left out of the fun, but they both knew that wasn't the truth. Frida became a vigilante to give him a way out. Because of Frida, he could leave Miracle City in good hands. And, should something go terribly wrong, she had the skills to _at least_ be able to hold her own, be it him or some other disaster.

Manny left the city, not to put a cork on his temper, but to find a way to communicate with his shadow. Fuzzball, it turned out, was more than happy to oblige, and together they struck a deal. He could stick around, and, when he got mad, he'd let him have partial control, but he couldn't kill anyone, and he still needed to have a say in things when he _did_ blow his top.

_'Got it.'_

He should've known it wouldn't be that easy. He should've known that, eventually, he wouldn't be able to hide away from the city and take his anger out on trees. He should've _known_ that Django would be the trigger. But he didn't-wouldn't?- know it. Not until it was too late.

"Dude, listen to me. It's not worth it. You'll feel like crap later. He's just messing with your head." Frida grabbed his arm. Tigre didn't so much as flinch. "Lets just go inside, get you a therapy ball, and- Oh, who am I kidding? You aren't even listening to me, are you?"

"Nope."

"Great. _Just_ great." She glanced around. "Fuzzball, you here? Talk some sense into him, would you? _Please_."

_'He threatened us. Came into our territory unwelcome. We can't let them do that, can we?'_

Tigre's eyes narrowed. "No. We can't."

"Oh, crud. Fuzzball's totally on your side, isn't he? Biased little- I oughta shave him when this is over."

"Frida."

"Yeah?"

"Get out of my way."

Frida let go and stepped back, reaching behind her. "Look, dude. Manny. I hate to do this. Seriously. But it's kinda the only option here, and you'd be really mad at me if I didn't at least _try_, so..."

Tigre grabbed the pipe mid-swing, just inches away from colliding with his ear. Frida flinched, but didn't let go. "Crap."

Manny clenched his fist. The top half of the pipe fell into perfectly cut, mostly equal pieces on the ground. Frida whistled uneasily and stepped back. "I'm, uh, just gonna get out of your way now." She skittered out the door and down the steps.

'_She attacked us_.'

"Let her go." Manny un-clenched his claws, relishing in the sound of metal cutting through air. "We've got bigger prey to hunt."

* * *

Django wasn't stupid enough to try and hide. Tigre gave him that, at least.

Or maybe he was too stupid _to_ hide. At this point, he really didn't care.

"So this is the famous 'El Tigre temper', eh?" Django looked him over with a chuckle. "I must say, it looks mighty familiar. Running low on ideas?"

El Tigre's tail twitched. Otherwise, he didn't move, patient even when angry.

"Not in the mood to talk? Fine. It'll be more fun to tear you limb from limb."

_'Wait for the right moment, then pounce.'_

_"What'll I do with him then?"_

_'Beat him to a pulp, of course. What else?'_

"Too scared to make the first move? That's alright. I like going first."

Django took a step. Fuzzball bristled.

_'Kill him.'_

_"He's already dead."_ He hesitated. _"And it goes against the agreement."_

_'That doesn't mean you can't tear him apart bone by bone, then toss them one by one into the volcano. Do it, Tigre. It's his fault if he can't take the heat.'_

Without further preamble, Tigre crouched and pounced, claws outstretched. His roar could be heard for miles.

**Author's Note: I should probably mention that the eye-thing is that, when Manny faces off against Rodolfo and Grandpapi in Sartana's game to choose her 'successor', his eyes go from edged to a full circle. I thought that would make a good representation of Fuzzball taking partial control.**

**And the italics, even Manny's, are thoughts. Since The Great Tiger Spirit is a part of Manny, his thoughts can be transferred to him, it just takes a bit more energy than just opening his mouth and_ talking_ to him.**

**Yeah angry Manny! What does everyone think of this?**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review! **


	16. Boiling Over (Part 2)

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Drabble: Boiling Over (Part 2)- The Intervention**

**...**

**Author's Note: No new reviews. Huh. Oh well. =)**

**...**

Frida ran home long enough to grab her spare rusty crowbar (which sucked, because that pipe was her favorite), slip on some heavy-duty knee and elbow pads under her jacket and jeans, and to warn her father it'd be in his best interest to take a sick day before racing off.

El Oso, dead to the world in a sleep that barely rivaled hibernation, hadn't noticed the ruckus going on in the streets until the blue-haired girl kicked open his door.

"Up and at 'em, sleeping beauty. I need your help."

"What the- what're _you_ doings here, man?"

"One; not a man. And two; I need your help."

"You already said that." He stood and stretched. "What's goin' on?"

Frida shrugged and rocked on her heels. "Okay, now _here's_ a funny story for you..." She paused. "Manny's seriously mad at Django and is currently rampaging around the town, kicking his skeletal butt into next week."

"_What_?"

"You heard me. The police aren't stupid enough to try and intervene, and his folks'll lose if they try and stop him."

"Okay then..." He slumped onto the bed, Chipotle's words ringing in his head. Everyone's words ringing in his head, really. They were all saying the same thing, when it came down to it: _one day he's going to snap_. And they were right. "And you needs me for_ what_ exactly?"

"I need you to snap him out of it. Duh." Frida rolled her eyes. "Look, Manny's too far gone at this point to listen to reason. What he _needs_ is a good, hard, sentimental smack upside the head, and you're_ just_ the guy to deliver said smack."

"What about Pantera? Or Loco?"

Frida shook her head. "Manny knows they can take a hit. You, however, can't."

"What about you? _Yous_ his best friend."

"Yeah, well..." Frida hesitated. "Fuzzball kinda hates my guts._ And_ I can take a beating. So I'm a no-go. Now quit stalling and let's _go_ already!"

El Osos paused. "... What's a fuzzball?"

"Not important. You with me or not?"

"Not." He crossed his arms.

"Sure, just _leave_ your boyfriend hanging in his time of need. I'm _sure_ he'll appreciate it later."

"Hey, it's his problem, not mi-" He paused. "Wait. Did you just call me his 'boyfriend?'"

"Uh, duh. That's what you are."

"Well, yeah, but we's never called each other that before. It's kinda weird, chu know?"

"Not really. Solo for life and proud of it."

"Oh." He shrugged. "Fine. I'll help."

"Oh indeed." Frida grinned, leading him out by the wrist, her small hand barely able to wrap around the bigger man's arm even halfway, but somehow even more powerful than his could ever hope to be. "Now, come'on, Sir Dorkenhimer. Your duty awaits."

* * *

Django's claws were digging into his wrists, but Tigre couldn't find it in him to care. Let him draw blood. It'd be the last thing he'd do.

_'I like the way you think.'_

"Tigre, let's make a deal. It doesn't have to end like this. I-I- I'll leave Miracle City. For good this time. You'll never hear from me again." Django wheezed. Tigre held him up by the collar of his shirt, almost nose-to-nose with the taller boy. "All you have to do is let me go."

Tigre's head was swimming, blood pounding rather painfully in his ears. He glanced at Fuzzball. _"Is he saying something?"_

_'He's pleading for his life. Er, afterlife.'_

_"Do I like that?" _He couldn't, for the life of him, remember if he did or not.

_'No. Now, **finish** him.'_

He shook himself._ "It goes against the deal."_ He could at least remember_ that_.

_'So is the three blocks you just destroyed tossing that skeleton around like a rag-doll. Give in for once; let yourself go.'_

Too angry to argue with logic, no matter how flawed, Tigre raised a claw into the air, ready to tear the bones out of their joints, to slash and slash and keep slashing until their was nothing left to destroy. Such was the destructiveness of his temper.

"Hey, put the corpse down, man!"

Tigre's head snapped around, eyes narrowing. He hadn't even noticed them coming, caught up in what he was doing. That _wasn't_ a good thing.

Frida edged away. "Alrighty then, I'm just gonna... leave you two be. If you boys need me, I'll be evacuating the area."

No one said a word when she scrambled away towards unsuspecting apartment buildings.

Tigre turned back to the skeleton, examined him passively a few moments, slammed their foreheads together, and tossed him to the ground. Django scurried to his feet and made his escape down the street.

Tigre crouched, placing a hand on the ground. He closed his eyes, mumbling under his breath.

"Ancient Tiger Spirit, I summon you."

A circle of green fire erupted from the ground. Fuzzball, real and visible and every bit as dangerous as he looked, emerged from the ground, looking entirely too smug for Tigre's liking.

"Hey! I didn't know yous could do that, man. That's cool!"

Tigre didn't answer. "Go, take the skeleton down and bring him to Frida. She'll know what to do with him. I got this one." He glanced at Oso over his shoulder.

Fuzzball made a noise of agreement and raced down the streets after the retreating male. Tigre turned to Oso and crouched.

Oso raised his hands. "Hey, man. It's me; Oso. I don't wants to hurt you, man, but-"

He pounced.

**Author's Note: And the rampage continues! **

**The Boiling Over arc is going to be three, probably four, chapters long. Chapter 3 should (hopefully) be longer than this one.**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review**!


	17. Boiling Over (Part 3)

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Chapter Title: Boiling Over (Part 3 Of 3)**

**...**

Frida knocked on the door exactly four times. She would know, because she counted.

"Hey." She said when the door opened. "El Tigre's on a rampage, so it'd be in your best interest to-"

The man grabbed his bags, wife, and children and left her in a cloud of dust before she even had the chance to finish. Frida whistled, impressed. "Huh."

She calmly strutted over to the neighboring door, knocking four more times. "El Tigre and El Oso are duking it out in the streets, so-"

Gone. Frida felt a twinge of irritation. "Is _anyone_ gonna let me finish around here?"

Next door. The man living there had just poked his head out the door when a loud roar, definitely _not_ from the jaws of El Tigre, came from the streets. "I think that's for me." Frida grabbed his shoulder and pulled him outside. "Warn everyone on the next floor that El Tigre's mad and they need to evacuate. Have them send someone up. Keep the flow going. Got it?" He nodded. Frida let go. "Good. Go."

Frida didn't bother with her crowbar as she stepped into the streets. If whatever it was that was calling her out was that serious about hurting her then she wasn't going to win anyway, so why waste the energy? Thankfully, The Ancient Tiger Spirit didn't look to be in the mood for a fight (at least, she didn't _think_ so. Kinda hard to tell when it's her first time seeing the feline in person). It dropped Django to the ground and kicked his head to her feet.

"Aw, a present. I _knew_ you loved me." She hoisted the skeleton's head to her level with a smirk.

"What_ is_ that thing?"

"That 'thing' is a Fuzzball, one who _really_ doesn't like it when you mess with his turf." She glanced at the green tiger. "Manny sent you, am I right?" Frida set the head on her crowbar and spun it like a top, ignoring the skeleton's yelp of surprise as she absentmindedly balanced him on her crowbar like a plate on a stick.

It nodded, then growled something, jerking its head to the side. "Look, dude. Just because I can _see_ you doesn't mean I can understand you. Tiger-ese is not my best language." She paused. "Although, now that I think about it, it's probably better than my Spanish."

The tiger rolled its eyes and pointedly looked towards the volcano. Frida's eyes lit up. "_Oh_, I like it. Unoriginal, but effective." She stopped the spinning skeleton but left him teetering precariously on her crowbar, hand holding his chin up. "How about it, Django? You in the mood for a quick dip in the lava?"

Django's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

"Would. Can. Am going to." She paused nervously. "But we gotta hurry. The longer you're like this, the longer Manny'll be acting crazy. Come'on, Fuzzy, let's go. We got's a skeleton to fry!"

* * *

Oso had forgotten just how much metal claws can_ hurt_.

Alright, so he hadn't forgotten that so much as he had forgotten just how much of a ruthless fighter the boy was when he wanted to be. Tigre had pointedly left any and all arrests towards him to White Pantera and his dorky hero friends. But heroes _always_ fought clean, so he_ always_ had at least a small chance of winning.

El Tigre wasn't a hero. El Oso didn't have a chance.

"Alright, man. I gets that you're all mad and stuff," El Oso panted, struggling to his knees. Everything felt black and blue and he was pretty sure he was bleeding from a little of everywhere. It was times like this he remembered just how often the kid sharpened his claws around him, and the unimaginable amount of times he did so obsessively by himself. "But this is getting a little outta hand, don't chu think?"

He didn't answer. He hadn't spoken since he summoned that green tiger-thing to track down Django, and it was really starting to freak him out. Where was the banter? The insults? The yelling and screaming?

This El Tigre just didn't seem _real_.

"Oso, get out of there!" Grandpapi yelled. From the growing amount of people on the sidelines, including police officers, fire trucks, and the odd super hero/villain (all of whom were to afraid to interfere), Pantera and Loco hovered nearby the jail truck.

"It's not worth it! He'll cool down eventually!"

Yeah, he would, but then what? El Oso had already jumped in headfirst; it was a little late for him to try and swim to the surface now. Besides, Tigre needed his help, needed something to let his aggression out on, and what kind of boyfrie- _buddy_ (_too early, too soon, too late_) would he be if he ran off when he needed him most?

Oso slowly shook his head and stood up, spreading his arms wide. "I won't do's it. El Tigre needs my help, man. _Manny_ needs my help."

El Tigre's ear twitched at his name (because he had never called him Manny in the history of _ever_), but otherwise he looked unfazed. He probably couldn't even hear him. Oso bared his teeth and flexed his claws. "Come at me."

He did.

Frida arrived on the scene with a surprising amount of good timing, Fuzzball at her side. White Pantera and Puma Loco both recoiled.

"What_ is_ that thing?"

"Later. Right now, all you need to know is that its gotta disappear." She nudged its side _hard_. "Go!"

The Tiger Spirit snarled at her and leapt. Mid-air it lost all claim to any sort of visibility, mere moments before crashing into Tigre's body.

The Fuzzball he'd sent had had most of his logic and reasoning with it as a precaution, leaving Frida safe but Tigre practically feral. Now, the old Fuzzball and Manny were back.

Manny forced himself to a stop, glancing around. Oso groaned at his feet, and he only had to glance at his clenched muscles and squeezed shut eyes to realize _just_ what the claw in the air had been intended for.

He was going to _kill_ him. He. El Tigre. Manny. Kill _Oso._ His stomach turned.

El Oso hesitantly opened his eyes and, upon noticing the cat-like look to his own, instantly perked up. "Hey, yous okay again!"

He reached out to grab his arm in a friendly gesture, but Manny stepped back three steps, hands raised, face unreadable but definitely not happy.

He'd _promised_ himself he wouldn't do this. He wouldn't kill, he wouldn't attack a friend, he _wouldn't_ bring El Oso into all of this. So much for promises.

Oso's brow knitted together. "Man?"

Manny shook his head and turned away. Yanking off his belt with a vicious hand, he slowly crossed the dead-silent street to place it firmly into Pantera's hands.

"Take it. I don't want it anymore."

"Miho, you know it doesn't work like that..."

"Save it. I'm done."

The outline of The Great Tiger Spirit was brighter than before, lightened by his steadily calming temper, but Manny could feel his eyes and presence behind him as he wearily climbed into the back of the police truck.

"The belt's the other way, you know."

_'But you're this way.'_ It replied, sitting down beside him. _'That's good enough for me.'_

* * *

Two weeks later, El Oso was hauled to Miracle City after a thwarted (halfhearted, honestly) robbery. The police officers led him to his cell and locked the door without a word. Oso didn't argue.

In the cell across from him, Manny was curled in on himself, back to him. Oso grasped the bars and leaned forward.

"Hey, man. 'S me, Oso. I'd wondered where you been, man. Now I knows. Look, I ain't mad or nothin', I swear. Nobody is."

Manny stood up and walked closer to the corner, about two steps, and curled back up on the floor. El Oso sighed and looked away.

Three days later Pantera and Loco paid bail.

"Manny." Rodolfo grunted, eyeing him stonily. Manny stared at the ground, shoulders slumped. Pantera's gaze softened. "Let's go home, miho. We... have much to talk about."

Manny glanced at him as they passed. Oso held his gaze, asking, pleading. He looked away.

**Author's Note: It's not over yet! =) Poor Manny. Poor Oso.**

**So, what does everyone think so far? I haven't gotten any input for a good three chapters now, so it's hard to tell if my Boiling Over arc is having the effect I want it too. My unofficial reader/editor really likes it, and I'm having lot's of fun writing it, but it's hard to tell otherwise. So, if you have any thoughts, or some chapter ideas, the review button's primed and ready!**

**-Mandaree1**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	18. Boiling Over (Part 4)- The Aftermath

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Chapter Title: Boiling Over (Part 4)- The Aftermath**

**...**

**Storyteller54- Thank you! =) I have to say, it's nice to get a review once in awhile.**

**...**

El Oso knew his chances of making it to Tigre's room without being caught were slim to none, but that didn't stop him. Nor did his instincts, which were begging, pleading, _screaming_ for him to get away.

He wasn't scared. Being scared meant that there was something to be afraid of. The only really dangerous thing here was El Tigre, with his claws and roars and green tigers.

El Oso _wasn't_ afraid.

He heaved himself over the edge of the railing and stood up, wiping imaginary dirt from his knees. He edged around the side of the building to the back where Manny's bedroom window lay and grabbed the sides to pull himself in.

"El Oso."

He reared back as though struck. There stood Rodolfo Rivera, in all his maskless glory.

"Oh, uh, hey. I'll just... get out of here, now. See's you tomorrow, I guess, or at my next bank robberys."

Rodolfo lifted his hand and shook his head. "I don't intend to get in your way, Oso. I just... wish to thank you. For Manny."

"I's no problem, man. It was kinda fun, before..." Before he was almost killed. Before_ Manny_ almost killed him. "Before... you know."

He nodded. "I... have a question to ask you. You and my son... you are dating, yes?"

Oso stumbled back a step. Sure, the older Rivera's knowing had been long overdue, but it was still a shock for him to have figured it out on his own after all this time. "When you puts it that way, man..."

Rodolfo shook his head. "There's no need to answer if you don't want too. I understand. Your actions have said more than enough." Rodolfo turned to the window with a sigh. "Miho... he didn't tell me this would happen. He didn't tell me he was still struggling with his temper. He didn't _tell_ me he had a demon on his back."

_Me neither_, El Oso wanted to say._ He didn't tell me anything either. _He bit his tongue.

"Frida knows, but what else is new? He'll tell Frida, he'll tell his friends, he might even tell Maria, but he never tells his 'uncool' dad or his 'crazy' grandfather." He shook his head, looking a little like a lost dog. "I just don't get it."

"Maybe... Maybe he was scared to tells you, man. Maybe... maybe he thought it would be better if he handled it on his owns." But, even if that were the case, it still hurt. El Oso understood that personally.

"Perhaps." Rodolfo turned away. "Please, take good care of my son. Manny is strong, but he has his moments just like everyone else. I've... come to realize that. I hope you will too."

And with that, he disappeared into the house.

Oso watched him go without a word. Manny, wide-awake and in his El Tigre form, quietly climbed out the window. "Dad?" He glanced around. "I could've sworn I heard-"

He smacked nose-first into his chest and reared back, eyes wide. "El Oso? How long have you- I mean, have you been here long?"

"A little whiles, man."

"Oh. Sorry. My senses are a little... _off_ today."_ More like dead._

"That's okay. It didn't hurt."

"Good, good." He stretched awkwardly. "You, uh, you should probably get goin'. I coulda sworn I heard my dad's voice a second ago."

"It's safe. I, uh, checked. You wanna... I dunno, talk?"

"No, not really. I mean, it's no big deal. I get it. It's over. Goodnight."

"Tigre, would you just _listen to me_?"

"It's cool." He waved a paw and started climbing through his window. "I told you, I get-"

"_Manny_."

He froze and whipped around, ears tilted slightly to their sides in surprise. "You never call me Manny."

"Yeah, I know. This is the exception, I guess. Just.. tell me what's goin' on, man. Please."

He sighed and nodded, knowing that it was pointless to try and argue. "Alright, but can we... go somewhere else? I don't want my folks to overhear us."

"Sure."

Manny didn't say much at first as they made their way across rooftops, but then his words gained momentum. "The Tiger Spirit- the tiger you saw earlier- it's real. It's its own creature. But it lives in my head. It doesn't advise me or anything- it_ is_ me. A part of me, at least. It helps me keep my head in check."

"Didn't seem to be working that well the other day, man." Oso crossed his arms.

Manny winced and nodded. "That's different. Fuzzball- Frida's name, not mine- always does its best to keep my mental health in decent parameters. Stress and anger were building up, so it made me release it before it got too unhealthy."

"Oh." He paused. "If that's how it is, why still keep the belt? I mean, no offense, but I'm surprised your folks gave it back to you so soon."

"It's complicated. For one thing, no one knew about it before now. An El Tigre only family secret." Manny hesitated. "Okay. Can I tell you something I've never told anyone before? Something... I'm not supposed to tell anyone?"

"I... guess?"

"White Pantera's and Puma Loco's in the family get to choose who they want to be. El Tigre's are _chosen_. It's a kind of genetic defect floating around the family- once in a blue moon, a baby is born needing the magic in the belt to survive."

El Oso choked. "It keeps you alive?"

"Sorta." He shrugged. "I could live without it for a long time- months. Years, maybe- but eventually I'd get sick. I'd get weaker and weaker and, if I didn't wear the belt- and absorb the magic _in_ the belt- I'd die. That's how its always worked. That's why there's never more than one El Tigre at a time." His ear twitched in acknowledgement. He leaned against the railing of the building top they'd stopped at. "El Tigre's have a habit of going loco. The magic- and our dependency on it- probably has something to do with it." That, and the constant indecision, but El Oso was hearing enough about his problems as it was, there was no need for him to shove more of them onto the villain's shoulders.

"Oh." El Oso didn't know what to say. Still, he tried. "That's, uh, that's pretty rough soundin', man."

Manny ignored him, gazing out at the city below. "I wasn't supposed to find out until I was older. They always told me it was some stupid family heirloom, that I'd discover my own powers when I was older. They say that to all the El Tigre's, I think."

"What happened?"

"_Sartana_ happened. She thought if she told me I'd be too shocked to really _do_ anything, and she could kill me before I regained my senses. Kidnapped Frida while she was at it too, the jerk. It was the first time it'd happened, so it was really terrifying for us both." He ran a claw down the bottom edge of his scar. "Gave me this while she was at it."

Oso growled. That was practically a rule-breaker, there. "That's so not right, man."

"It's no big, really. I... Kinda asked for it, actually." He shook his head. "So... that's it. That's why I wear my belt- why I was wearing it even back then. It wasn't about starting a fad. It was about survival." He dropped his head in his hands, rubbing his eyelids on his gloves. "I'm destined to go crazy, I talk to things that aren't really there, and I'm magically attached to an article of clothing. I'm a mess."

"I don't think so." El Oso contemplated putting a beefy hand on his shoulder, but thought against it.

"Well, you should. What are you even _doing_ here? I almost_ killed_ you."

"But you didn't."

"I was going to. That's what matters."

"I don't think so." He repeated, shrugging. "You could have, but chu didn't."

"Ulgh, I should've just stayed in jail. At least _there_ I know where I stand. You _should_ be scared of me, Oso-"

"Like you is?"

Manny's jaw snapped shut. El Oso's didn't. "Chu think you're just some crazy, angry cat dude, but you're not. You never was. And I ain't never gonna be scared of you. Evers."

"You're not listening to me!"

"No, _chu_ ain't listenin' to _me_!" El Oso flailed his arms. Then, mostly just to shut him up, he grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

"Uh, El Oso?"

"I'll be scared of you when _I_ think I should be scared of you, and nots a second sooner. Seriously. You're, like, the least scary dude I know."

"Thanks, I guess." He pulled away awkwardly. "I should probably be headin' home now. Dad's gotta be climbing the walls by now."

"Okay. Just... think about what I said, okay?"

Manny didn't answer for a second. Then, he slowly nodded. "I will."

**Author's Note: Supportive El Oso is supportive. And awkward. =)**

**We're only one or two more chapters away from the ending of the boiling over arc. Then we'll be moving one to another 2-3 chapter arc. Not quite sure yet what will happen one or two chapters after that, but it's fun to write this stuff, so I'm sure I'll think of something.**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	19. Getting Out Of Dodge

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre: The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Chapter Title: Getting Out Of Dodge**

**...**

Frida showed her support for the cause by loudly snoring on the Rivera family couch overnight in wordless protest, guitar leaned comfortably against the side of the arm next to the crowbar in case of emergencies- of both the villain and musical variety.

Rodolfo didn't even bother to act surprised when he appeared in the doorway the next morning. "Frida."

"Hey, Manny's dad. You're looking... alive."

"The same to you. Listen, Frida, I understand that you want to support Manny, but this is a personal thing."

"All the more reason for me to stay." She answered, idly strumming a few notes. Acting indifferent had always helped her wear people down, and it would take a lot of wear to get White Pantera to agree to pretty much anything this early in the morning.

"A family thing." He added tersely.

"And me and Manny are family by now." She shrugged. "You can't deny that."

"Frida."

"Manny's dad." She sat up to better look him in the eye. "You ain't gonna get rid of me. Not like this."

As though sensing the sharp change in the atmosphere, Manny burst into the room with a wide- and fake- smile. "Frida!" He spun her around like a dancer would, then pulled her to his chest for a hug. "Have I told you recently how much I love you?"

"Nope, but far be it from me to try and stop you from complimenting me."

Rodolfo sighed. "Fine. She can stay. But _only_ for breakfast."

She smiled wide. "Thanks, Mr. R!" She was only trying to help Manny stall, not avoid the subject entirely. Avoidance wasn't really possible at this point, so the next best thing was all she could do.

Grandpapi grabbed her wrist with a mechanical claw and led her out the room. "If she is stayin', then she is cooking. Is family tradition."

"Alright. But I hope you like churros for breakfast!" Which wasn't gonna happen, because Frida didn't have a clue on how to make churros (knowing takes the magic out of things), but she'd been threatening churros just as long, if not longer, as they had been threatening her with cooking. Tradition is as tradition does.

"Maria should be by later, chu know. Chu don't really have to cook." Grandpapi hovered by the counter as Frida pulled out a pan and set it on the stove.

"Yeah, well,_ I_ won't be here when Manny's mom drops by. I'll be on my way back home." To the Suarez house, technically. She was soon to be booted out of her home.

"You're cooking food for more than one person, I see." He chuckled.

She shrugged and pulled open an egg cartoon. "They sell food in family-sized portions these days. It'd be, like, a total waste if I only made up part of it."

"Uh-huh." He said with a snort. "Alright, let's try and be serious for a second. How long have chu known?"

"About Manny's explosive temper?" She raised an eyebrow. Should he be asking, the answer was- technically- as followed; she'd known from the beginning. Day one. Whatever dramatic name you wanted to call it. Manny had told her the moment he realized his control was slipping and, a few weeks later, Frida publicly announced that she'd 'suddenly' decided she wanted to become a vigilante.

Not that the two events were connected, or anything. Because they totally weren't. And she wouldn't tell him even if they were; you know, for Manny's sake.

"About Manny and El Oso." He corrected, voice and expression normal. Frida couldn't tell if he just didn't care or if he was trying to lull her into a false sense of security.

Never one to bother with subtleties or tact, Frida merely snorted. "Longer than you, old man. That's for sure."

"From the beginning, then." He nodded, unsurprised. "And... chu're okay with this?"

"Of course I am." Frida blinked at him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, Rodolfo and I were talking it over last night, and he may have suggested that Manny and El Oso were... a jealousy thing. Chu know, a thing to make chu jealous."

The thought had never occurred to her before. Like, not even in her craziest nightmares. Frida collapsed into giggles.

Grandpapi looked vaguely affronted. "It's an honest question! All those teenage hormones, everyone these days is questioning their sexuality, etc."

Frida wasn't. "Dude, relax. Nothing's gonna change or anything. We'll still end up gettin' married and having kids and all that happy ending crud. He just won't_ love_ me." Not that he ever had. And Frida had outgrown her (mutual) crush on him _ages_ ago.

Grandpapi was silent. "That doesn't sound like much of a happy ending to me."

Frida turned the heat off with the flick of a wrist, staring straight ahead. "Yeah, well, it never was about happiness. It was about getting all of Miracle City as a whole off our tails so we can live in relative peace."

"And El Oso?"

"Is too laid back to give a darn about wedding bands made of peer pressure. And I don't blame him." She shouldered two plates and nodded towards the rest. "Help me carry?"

* * *

"You bozos are lucky my mom bothered to teach me how to cook on her days off, you know that?" She set the plates down with a small- and fake- spring in her step. "I would've, like, poisoned you by now otherwise."

Manny accepted the food with vigor. "You gotta teach me how you make your omelets someday, Frida. They're practically legendary."

"I would, but then I'd have to kill you, and_ then_ what?" She waved her spatula. "Trouble comes in twos for a reason, you know."

Rodolfo, brow pinched and back straight, coughed politely into his fist. "Thank you, Frida. You can sit down now."

Mannny shifted over. Frida calmly sat down beside him and dug in.

No one really said anything throughout breakfast, which made things more than a little awkward. Manny and Frida both tried to make small talk, but no one seemed keen on answering. Eventually they both just gave up.

Eventually, Maria came strutting through the front door, fast food in one hand, a book (probably a how-to parenting guide for Rodolfo and Grandpapi) in the other.

Manny nudged her foot and nodded towards the door. _'Time to go, Frida.'_ He seemed to be saying, all without looking at her. _'It's about to get ugly.'_

"Wouldja look at the time." Frida stood up abruptly, grabbing her crowbar and guitar on her way out the door. "Mornin', Mrs. Rivera."

"Good morning, Frida. You're not staying?"

"Nah." She jerked her free thumb towards the door. "I'm tryin' to avoid being drawn into the massacre."

"That's... understandable, if a bit morbid." She edged out of the way. Frida felt the tiniest bit smug; after all these years, Maria still didn't have a clue how to deal with her.

She should probably be feeling the pressing need to face the music with Manny or whatever (that's what_ normal_ friends did, right?) but Frida had done all that she could. Diverted attention, stalled the inevitable, then got out of the way when she was no longer of any use. That's what _good_ friends did, right?

(She hoped.)

She briefly considered wandering around the city for a few hours, avoid facing her_ own_ music, but quickly shot that down. Her father hadn't seen hide nor hair of her since she stopped by for the spare weapon and pads; he _must_ be worried by now.

It was strange, she realized, thinking back on her words early that morning. She once bought into the whole 'fairy tale ending' thing everyone seemed to want for them. It hadn't felt... forced.

Frida had tried to delude herself into thinking she would be happy as the housewife of an undecided Rivera man. That she'd be content with cooking and cleaning, only helping out when it was a _real_ emergency (once a month, give or take), and giving birth to the next generation of poor saps they'd send into battle.

Frida wasn't stupid. The faze didn't last long- on either of their ends.

"Papa? Mom?" She pushed the front door open. "Anybody home?" A voice grunted in answer from the kitchen.

Frida found Emiliano Suarez sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and the daily newspaper, which he promptly set down at her entrance. "Ah, Frida. I was starting to get worried about you, hija."

"I'm alright, papa." She leaned over and gave him a hug, which he immediately returned. "Just a bit sore."

"And in need of a good shower." He wrinkled his nose. "Where were you? Not at that Rivera boy's house, I hope."

"Yes, actually, I was." Emiliano shoulder's bunched. Frida caught the movement out of the corner of her eye. "I just wanted to make sure he was alright before I left. He is, by the way. Mostly."

"_He's_ alright?" Her father snorted and slapped the open page of his newspaper. "What about the city?"

"Meh. We've been hit by worse. You can't deny that."

He didn't bother trying. "I just don't like the thought of you running around with that Rivera boy. He's dangerous."

Right. Like she wasn't. "Manny wouldn't hurt me, dad. I promise."

"And what about that oaf he's been... 'hanging out' with?"

"El Oso? Please." She snorted. "The guy couldn't hurt a fly." The Miracle City police force, however, was a different matter entirely. "I can take care of myself, papa. I know what I'm doing."

He grunted.

"And don't you worry about him being punished, dad. His folks were preparing to rip him a new one when I left."

Emiliano set his coffee mug down harder than he needed to. "And they should! Acting the way he was, like a...like a..."

Frida's heart clenched, but she refused to admit as much. "Like a peed-off vigilante?" She asked, voice steady.

"Well, yes." He took a sip of his coffee, then paused. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I didn't say you did." She hadn't_ said_ anything. She didn't have too. "I get it."

Emiliano's face pinched in regret. "Frida, I love you. Never think that I don't."

"I just said I get it, dad." She reached over for one last hug before escaping to the stairs. "You don't have to be proud of someone to love them. I didn't understand that when I was little- I do now."

He didn't argue it, nor did he call after her.

And she wasn't the least bit bitter about it. Seriously. Frida got it. And she refused to lower herself enough to pout and storm up the stairwell to her room. Heck, she didn't even slam the door behind her.

She _did_, however, flop on the bed. With great gusto, even.

Resigned to try and get _some_ work done, she grabbed her little black book filled with possible bookings and money tallies off her bedside table and sat back against the headboard.

The little black book that sat next to her calendar, that was right next to her atlas of the world poster.

Her eyes darted back and forth between the three, then narrowed. She grinned and grabbed the telephone.

The phone picked up after two rings.

"Hey, Manny, what would you say if I told you I'd just thought up of a totally legal way for us to leave Miracle City for a few weeks that your folks can't _not_ agree to? Because I'm pretty sure we can swing it."

**Author's Note: Random fact of the day; hija was something I found off the internet, so it might not be right. I hope it is.**

**Second random fact of the day; I didn't know Frida's dad had a name before I looked it up. I always thought he was just 'Frida's dad' or 'Police Chief.' So it's a good thing I looked it up, I guess. **

**The dawn of a new arc is here! And plenty of Frida feels for you all!**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	20. How This All Started (Flowers)

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures of Manny Rivera!**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso**

**Chapter Title: How This All Started (Flowers)**

**Author's Note: I'd just like to mention that (if you hadn't already noticed) this is pre-story. -Stares at the date- has it seriously been a month?**

**...**

When he first smelled a whiff of tiger on the breeze, he didn't do anything.

Why _should_ he do anything, anyway? A few nights in his cave didn't exactly mean he and Tigre were bound for life. They barely knew the first thing about each other.

And, even then, what El Oso _did_ know wasn't very pretty. Rampaging through a city and beating the crud outta people multiple times didn't exactly get you brownie points, especially when you didn't even_ steal_ anything where you were at it.

El Tigre was a bit loco. Nobody was denying that.

Sure, his last rampage was ages ago, but that didn't mean squat. He hadn't successfully robbed a bank in two months, but that didn't mean he didn't rob the bank in the first place, you know?

At first, when the smell of tiger started getting more potent, he was worried he was being followed. But then he looked up and realized that, no, he wasn't being followed, he'd just managed to stumble upon one of Tigre's many well-known perches. He was literally walking_ underneath_ the dude.

Whoops.

He thought about just going up there and saying hey, but that would be a little weird, wouldn't it? 'Hey, I know we're technically enemies who've mated with each other then ran opposite directions (more than once, he might add) but I just thought I'd intrude on your personal space for no real reason and say hello?'

No, no, no. Even El Oso wasn't_ that_ dumb. He'd need an edge.

But what did a guy even get an enemy-bed-partner-so-and-so-_whatevertheywere_ anyway? Chocolates?

He shook his head. Tigre seemed to prefer vanilla stuff to chocolate. Ice cream?

(Ha, more like soup.)

El Oso scratched his head. Originality wasn't really his strong suit, and it was coming back to bite him now. A puppy?

Yeah, because a little dog would do _so well_ in the house of three feline-inspired superdudes.

He snapped his fingers and perked up. Flowers! That would do the trick!

...But El Oso didn't know squat about flowers. And he wasn't really looking for something you'd see in every single romantic-comedy known to man.

Eh, whatever. He was just going to have to go old-school wilderness on this one.

An hour later El Oso reappeared, proudly carrying a bouquet of wildflowers (weeds, actually, but nobody had told him that at the time) with a twisty tie holding them together (and not the pretty kind- the kind you used to close bread bags).

For a guy El Oso wasn't even sure _why_ he was going to go to talk to, he really pulled out all the stops.

El Tigre was calmly sitting on top of the roof's concrete side railing, tapping his claws to an idle tune. Oso couldn't see his face from the stairwell, but it wasn't difficult for the villain to put two and two together and know he was bored.

He thought about turning back for a second, if only because a bored (possibly?) semi-psychotic temperamental in-between didn't exactly sound like the type of person El Oso wanted his path to cross with, but then he realized that El Tigre_ knew_.

He'd known he was on the sidewalk far beneath him. He'd known he'd stood around for awhile like a creeper before sprinting off out of nowhere. He'd known he was coming up the stairs.

Well, geez, Tigre. It couldn't have hurt you to_ try_ and encourage him, or somethin'.

The teen jerked his hand away and sheathed his claws, idly swinging his legs above the chaos that is Miracle City. It kinda suited him, in a morbid way; the king of tempers (or tigers, depending on who you asked) coolly watching the city go to pieces below him.

Right. This was_ so_ not the time for him to get all morbid and stuff. He had a mission to complete.

Tigre didn't so much as look his way as he walked over, and only stopped swinging his legs when a bunch of flowers met his face- and not very lightly, either.

"Here. These are for yous, man. I, uh, found 'em."

"Uh, thanks?"

Tigre looked them over, paused, then fell over laughing. And when Oso said 'fell over', he meant it. Tigre didn't so much as flinch as his back met the brutally hard concrete roof, head propped up so he didn't smash into anything. He just kept laughing.

"What's so funny?" He demanded, snarling slightly. All his hard work had been for what? A joke for the teen to laugh at?

"_Look_ at us!" He wheezed, smiling in a way that looked kinda-sorta crazy, but, hey, Oso didn't judge. "We're like a bad cliche gone wrong!" And, okay, _maybe_ he had a point there.

Oso paused, thought about it himself, then started laughing too, propping himself up on the railing with a beefy hand. "Yous right, man! Could we be's any more pathetic!?"

(And if a vase of wildflowers mysteriously appeared on Manny's windowsill that night, then, hey. Oso didn't have to know.)

**Author's Note: Wow, first El Tigre thing in over a month. This probably isn't my best work, but, hey, I'm just getting back into the saddle.**

**(And for those wondering, Manny's only recently gone through his self-imposed temper check. That's why he's acting a tad more off than usual.)**

**Man, twenty chapters. I'm not gonna lie guys, this is my first _anything_ that's made it to twenty chapters. I know it's just a fluffy yaoi story, but I'm proud of it for carrying itself so far.**

**I know there's been a lull lately. Maybe people have just gotten bored with all the chapters, or maybe my ramblings finally starting rubbing people the wrong way or something, but I can't find it in me to care. I'm dorkishly happy for no real reason. =)**

**Random Fact Of The Day: There is none. Anybody got any headcanons they'd like to share, or something?**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	21. Samurai City (Part 1)

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre!**

**Title: The Tiger And The Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Chapter Title: Samurai City (Part 1)**

**...**

"So, uh. I'm headin' out of town."

El Oso frowned. You're leaving Miracle City?" It had only been a few weeks since 'the incident', and while he was no expert, he'd just assumed someone got grounded for that long and more after going nuts and destroying city blocks.

"Just... Just for a couple of days." He amended. "The Atomic Sombreros finally got their first out of town concert. It's too important to miss."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's just Samurai City, but this could be the band's first real break. And, since things over there are so safe, Frida's folks can't pitch a fit about it."

"What about _your_ folks?"

Manny hesitated, then shrugged, avoiding his eye. "I dunno. They said yes, so I guess they're okay with it. It's complicated." He shook himself. "Anyway, we're leaving tomorrow. Thought I'd give you a heads up."

"Oh. Uh, thanks, man." El Oso paused awkwardly. They seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Something wasn't clicking quite like it used to. "So, uh, can I's go?"

"Not a good idea." He rebuffed hurriedly. "I mean, no offense, but the crime of the week over there is jaywalking."

Oso snorted. "Jaywalking ain't a crime."

"Exactly. Sneaking a criminal into a place like Samurai City is a little out of _everyone's_ depth. You should just stay here and think about stuff."

"What stuff?" He asked, deflating slightly.

"Whatever stuff you like to think about it. The world. What you're going to have for lunch." He shrugged, ignoring the little voice telling him that he should be saying_ if_ instead of when. "It's your call."

* * *

Emiliano wrapped his daughter into a hug. "My little Frida, on her very first real concert!" He whipped around to glare at him. "You better take care of her, Rivera!"

Manny raised his hands in surrender. "Yes, sir, Mr. Suarez. Although, I doubt she'll need it."

"I won't." Frida sniffed pointedly. "Papa, it's _Samurai City_. Nothing's going to happen. It's literally the safest place on the planet."

Rodolfo nodded his goodbye stiffly. Maria, not nearly as uncomfortable, grabbed Manny into a hug of his own. "I'm proud of you, Miho."

"Thanks, mom. But it's Frida's band. I'm just the dumb muscle."

"Speaking of dumb muscle." The blue-haired girl held out her suitcase. "You can carry my luggage."

The Atomic Sombreros boarded the plane with little trouble. Having taken the luxury of buying first-class tickets (which amounted to second-class everywhere else) they found their seats relatively easily.

"Ah, my first plane ride." Frida said, lounging back. "With an invisible footrest and everything."

Fuzzball, curled up on the floor in front of their seats, growled irritably at the shoes propped up on its side. Manny noticed this. "That's not a footrest."

"It's not? Oh well. 'S not like Fuzzball can bite me or anything." She paused, shifting her feet. "Speaking of which, how am I doing this?"

"Beats me. I guess it's 'cause you had direct contact with him when he was visible. Y'know, willingly. Can you see him?"

"Nope." She said, popping the end of the word. "Which works just fine for me, by the way. I don't _wanna_ see him."

"Still sore over everything that happened?"

She snorted. "Hardly." Frida lounged back in her seat, eyeing him mischievously. "Speaking of sore, you _do_ know that Toshiro is gonna be in town, right?"

Manny startled immediately. "Oh boy." He breathed, gripping the armrests tightly. "I totally forgot about that."

Teeny blinked at them. "What's the issue?"

Frida snorted again and pointed at the stressed boy with her thumb. "Cyber Sumo hates his guts."

"Big time." He agreed wearily. "Dude knows how to hold a grudge."

"We tricked him once when we were kids." She chuckled. "Hasn't forgiven us since."

"How are you so calm about this? The concert's _bound_ to break some sort of rule."

"It will. It does." She shrugged. "There's a noise curfew. I checked. It's more of a ticket-worthy offense than anything else."

"That's more than enough for him." He spat.

"Manny, relax." She put a hand on his shoulder. "I've got it on good record that Toshiro's girlfriend is a major rock 'n roll fan. We'll give them two free tickets. Boom. Problem solved."

"Toshiro has a _girlfriend_?"

"I know; shocked me too." She dug through her pockets. "I made them in advance." She explained, shoving them into his hands. "You give them to 'em."

"What! Why me?"

"Because_ I_ don't have a death wish. Besides, we've got a ton of set-up to do. Suck it up, tiger-boy. You can do this."

"Is he really that bad?" Teeny asked.

"No, no. He's not- I mean, he isn't outwardly violent or anything, it's just... you can tell by the way he talks. Short and clipped. Cold." He paused. "And he calls me Manuel. There's that too."

There was a long pause. "What?"

"We're waiting for the obligatory 'I hate Manuel', I think." Rosa offered helpfully.

"Oh." His gaze met the floor. "I don't _hate_ my name. It's just... nobody calls me that, you know? It's always been just Manny."

"He's not kidding." Frida chipped in. "His folks only say it when they're mad. Like when your parents use your middle name when you're in trouble? It's like that."

"Mhmm," Manny nodded. "Puts me on edge."

"Well, there's no better way to break the ice then with music. I'm sure you'll be fine."

* * *

They'd booked two rooms in advance, both with twin beds. Teeny and Rosa took one, while Frida and Manny took the other, used to each other's company from years of sleepovers.

"Ah." Frida sighed, flopping noisily onto the bed. Manny carefully curled up on the corner of his own sleeping space, close to the edge. She raised an eyebrow. "You always sleep like that. Dude, live a little. You've got the entire bed to yourself."

"Easy for you to say." He glanced pointedly at the large green tiger laying on its back in the middle of the bed, paws in the air. It let out a content grunt. "You don't have a bed buddy."

"Kick 'em off. It won't kill him to sleep on the floor."

"No, but _I_ have to listen to him complain."

"Hmm..." She stretched. "Alright, spit it out."

"I'm not eating anything."

"Don't get all punny on me, mister." Frida sat up and pointed at him. "Why wasn't El Oso at the farewell thing?"

"I dunno. I'm not his tracker."

"_Manny_."

"Okay, okay. I told him that he couldn't go with us and that he should think. I guess he was so caught up in that he forgot to show up."

"Think?" She stared at him. "About what?"

Manny shrugged, staring at the ceiling rather than meet her eye. "I dunno. Life. Stuff. Money. Whatever he thinks about."

Frida wasn't impressed. "You want him to start thinking about your relationship, find it less than pleasing, and break it off, don't you?"

"I didn't say that."

"But you're not denying it." She sighed. "Manny, that's seriously cowardly, you know that?"

"So?"

She fell back against her pillow. "So, next time you see him, you're gonna talk it out. Honestly. _And_ you're gonna grow a backbone and kick Fuzzball off the bed."

Fuzzball made an irritable noise at her, never one for talking this late at night, and went to lay at the foot of the bed. Manny blinked at him in surprise, then stretched out.

"Better?"

"Better."

"Good. Now get some rest, yellow belly. You've got tickets to deliver."

* * *

Manny checked to make sure the tickets were both still there and he hadn't somehow lost them even though he held them in a death grip before hesitantly reaching out to knock on the door.

Toshiro answered. "Manuel." He greeted, bowing stiffly. "It's a surprise to see you."

"Manny. And I won't stay long, I promise." He held his hand out for a friendly handshake. The other boy stared at it, but didn't move to take it. Manny dropped his hand. "I just came to give you something."

"Give me something? I wasn't aware today was a holiday."

"It's not. See, I'm sure you already know that The Atomic Sombreros are in town-"

"And bound to break some rules." He interjected with a sniff.

Manny ignored him. "We thought it was only right that we invite you." He held the tickets out for him to take. "I hear your girlfriend really likes music. I'm sure she'll be ecstatic."

Toshiro stared at the tickets, then him. He twitched, and suddenly Manny was on the ground, nursing a black eye. "What the heck, man!?" He shouted.

"We broke up, you fool!" He yelled back, fists clenched, before slamming the door.

Manny winced and hung his head. "I'm in trouble."

**Author's Note: It's been a while since I last wrote for this one, huh?**

**I'd just like to mention that I won't be updating for a bit, even if I do write something. The internet's a bit wonky at home. I'm at a family member's house. It'll be a few weeks.**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


	22. Samurai City (Part 2)

**Disclaimer: I don't own El Tigre; The Adventures Of Manny Rivera**

**Title: A Tiger And A Bear**

**Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between a teenage El Tigre and the villainous El Oso.**

**Chapter Title: Samurai City (Part 2)**

**...**

**Storyteller54\- Thanks! Sorry I took so long with the next chapter; I've been slacking off. =)**

**...**

Manny went back to the hotel and took a nap, not even bothering to change his clothes. Fuzzball didn't even make it to the bed. He probably would've slept through the night, had it not been for Frida kicking the side of his bed.

"Up and at 'em, sleeping beauty."

"Ugh, _Frida_." He whined, rolling onto his back. "Is the sun even out yet?"

"Don't even kid yourself. Nice shiner, by the way."

"Dude broke up with his girlfriend." He reported wearily. "Was real touchy about it, too."

"Oh, jeez. Just... keep him away from the concert, okay?"

"_Frida_, he's going to kick my butt!"

"_Manny_, you get your butt kicked once a week anyway. Now get out of bed and help me."

Manny sat up, face scrunched in disgust. "How are you so awake?"

Frida bounced on her heels and shrugged, coffee in hand. "I haven't slept since we got here." Noticing his look, she quickly added; "I was _going_ to, but the main setup crew just chickened out on us." She jerked her thumb towards a plastic bag filled with candy sitting next to four coffees from the local fast food joint held together by a drink carrier. They were sitting on a table he could've sworn a vase had been sitting on hours earlier. "Go nuts."

"It's going to be a long night, isn't it?"

"You have no idea."

Manny reluctantly got out of bed and straightened his clothes, running his fingers through his curly hair as a quick combing. Frida held the coffee cup out knowingly.

"I don't like coffee."

"No one's sleeping until after the concert, and you've got an angry teenager with superpowers who hates your guts coming for you."

Manny quietly took the cup and drained it accordingly. Frida nodded in satisfaction and handed him a lollipop, taking one for herself. "To get rid of the aftertaste."

"I'm not going to live through this, am I?"

"Oh, no. You'll live. Toshiro may be crazy, but he is still a hero." She nodded towards his eye. "Just be ready to have a couple more of those."

"Bruises?"

"No, you dork. Scars."

"That makes me feel so safe." He muttered irritably.

"It's a gift." Frida gracefully picked up the bag. "Let's head out."

'_Tell her to shut up_.' Fuzzball groaned from where he was laying on the floor.

"The Great Tiger Spirit says to shut up." He parroted, to tired to argue.

"Well, unless _Fuzzball_ is willing to set up the stage and lights all by himself, he's just going to have to get over it." Frida scuffed her boot in the tiger's general direction.

"Uh, Frida-"

"Manny. I haven't slept for almost two days now. I'm living off of caffeine and sugar. I just found out we're going to have to do everything by hand. I honestly don't _care_ at this point."

Manny held his hands up in surrender, knowing better than to argue. "Yes, ma'am."

* * *

"Is it to much to ask for an atomic bomb to blow up the city so I can die and sleep for the rest of eternity?" Teeny asked with a yawn.

"Yes." Rosa nodded.

"Darn."

"Alright girls, up and at 'em." Frida clapped her hands. "We can still save this."

"There's no doubt about it." Rosa agreed. "But is it worth the effort?"

"No." Teeny grunted.

"It's our first out-of-town concert." Frida pointed out. "I'm willing to bet there'll be tons of talent scouts there; but only if we get our crud together."

Teeny slumped in defeat. "I'll go mess with the lighting."

"I got the technology." Rosa added, following the girl out of the room.

"What am I doing?" The only boy of the group asked.

"Security detail." Frida answered tersely.

"What about the heavy lifting?"

"I called in the big guns."

* * *

'The big guns', as it turned out, was El Oso.

The burly man grabbed the smaller boy into a hug, then dropped him. "What happened to your eye, man?"

"The same thing that's going to happen to Frida's." He grunted, shooting the girl a dirty look.

Frida was unfazed. "It's not my fault your boyfriend is capable of lifting cars. Get over it."

"Yo, hairy guy!" Teeny called from the stage. "I could use some help over here!"

"On it! Talk to you's later, man." The larger man jogged towards the stage. Manny froze at the wording.

"Is that what this is about?"

"For once; no. Oso just happens to be the strongest guy I know."

"You could've just called your dad." He pointed out.

"He would've brought the entire police force with him."

"My point exactly."

"_And_ he would've taken one look at your black eye and dragged me home kicking and screaming. You're just going to have to suck it up."

"You realize he's not smart enough to be of much help, right?"

"You realize that if I was going for smarts I would've called Chipotle Jr."

"Your point." He conceded with a nod.

"Let's just get this over with."

* * *

Manny and Frida, mostly used to pulling all-nighters, were surprisingly awake and with it by the time the concert rolled around. As were Rose and Teeny, although they were drawing their energy from the quickly diminishing candy and coffee stores.

El Oso, however, had scarcely stayed up for a few hours past his bed time before. He slumped against the metal beams he and Manny had decided to sit on, high above the chaos. "I can't feel my anything."

"It'll pass." Manny assured him. "You'll be hurting by morning."

"That don't sound much better, man."

"It isn't." He peeked through the curtains. Down below on the stage, Frida was dancing across the stage as she belted out a guitar solo. Fuzzball, still angry at the early morning wake-up, kept time behind her, ducking between her legs and trying to make her trip. Frida, with a grace Manny could only assume was born from sugar, caffeine, and a bit of adrenaline, made it look like a new dance step. "You don't see that every day."

"See what?"

"Such a packed concert hall. I know Samurai City is kinda boring, but I didn't realize it was _that_ boring."

The Atomic Sombreros preened under the attention. Manny carefully scanned the crowd for any talent scouts. He didn't find any.

"Whelp. Unless there's a new scout on the scene that I haven't heard about, then this trip was a flop."

"Well, at least they got to have fun, right?"

"Oso, we're all only half-alive by now. Anything short of a hospital visit is fun at this point." It suddenly dawned on him that this was the first time he'd been alone with the bear. Fuzzball, it seemed, was starting to grow his own brand of independence, and was no longer right behind him every step of the way.

Well, shucks. Things would've been so much easier if he'd done that a couple of years ago.

"Hey. I, uh, I tried doing that thinking about stuffs thing you told me to do. It gaves me a headache, man."

Manny wasn't surprised. "Forget about it."

"You's not mad?"

"No. That was just... silly me stuff. You do what you wanna do, okay?"

"Okay." He leaned forward. "I kinda wanna go on stage and play with them."

"I wouldn't go _that_ far." Manny said with a chuckle. "They don't really play well with others."

"Okay." He shrugged. "Wortha try."

Fuzzball jerked, stepping out of Frida's way. The tiger listened intently to something in the distance, staring at the wall. Finally, it turned to meet his eye.

'_The crazy boy is here._'

Manny stiffened, sighed, and stood up. "I gotta go."

"Something the matter?"

"Not yet. Watch to make sure nothing illegal happens while I'm gone?"

As there were no banks to rob nearby, El Oso wasn't all that concerned. "Okay."

Manny, already in his El Tigre form to make sure no one tried anything, leapt to the floor and slipped out the back. Once there wasn't anyone around to see him, he let his claws out.

"Alright, dude. Do your worst. But, I gotta say, nothing you could do can top the cruddy day I'm having."

**Author's Note: Don't mess with Frida when she hasn't had any sleep. She's downright terrifying. =)**

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


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